Ryozanpaku Second Disciple
by Normama
Summary: The legacy continues as Kenichi's little sister, Honoka, decided to learn Martial Arts from the Master of Ryozanpaku. How will her life and the lives of those around her be affect? There will be a little HonokaXNatsu later on. Please Review...
1. Chapter 1

**My New Year Special! Enjoy!**

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Ryozanpaku Second Disciple

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Disclaimer: I do not own Kenichi: History's Mightiest Disciple.

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Shio Sasaki, the Hundredth Degree Street Brawling Karate Master!

Akisame Koetsuji, the philosophic Jujitsu Master!

Kensei Ma, the Master of all forms of Chinese Kenpo!

Shigure Kousaka, the Maiden Prodigy of Weapons and Swords!

Apachai Hopachai, the Grim Reaper of Underground Muay Thai Boxing!

Hayato Furinji, the elderly "Super Human" of unspeakable power!

Miu Furinji, the ingenious and beautiful feather of Ryozanpaku who fights as an assassin!

And Kenichi Shirahama, the Ryozanpaku dojo first pupil…and also History's Mightiest Disciple!

They all live in Ryozanpaku, a place where Martial Art Master who upholds the ways of the "Saving Fist" and had practice their skills beyond the limit gather.

They all have face many tough challenges and had manage to survive them all!

Now a new challenge creep to the doorstep of the dojo. A challenge that was unseen by even the residents themselves, whom apparently weren't prepare. This challenge came in the form of…

"Hey everyone," a young girl called out in front of the dojo.

…Honoka Shirahama, Kenichi's little sister

* * *

"APA," Apachai sounded, as he rush over to the door, "Honoka is here! It's time to play again, APA!"

Apachai happily open the heavy door with ease, only to be confused when he saw Honoka carrying a large bundle on her back.

"APA? Honoka bring lots of little candy this time?"

"Well," Honoka nervously laughed, scratching the back of her head, "you're somewhat right! But I've also brought some other things like a toothbrush, some pajamas, and a sleeping bag…"

"APA? Why does Honoka need to bring those?"

"You'll see," Honoka chuckled, which for some reason was giving Apachai shivers, "I need to see brother's other masters as well. Which reminds me…where's brother?"

* * *

"AH!" Kenichi screamed, punching several robotic dolls that were continuingly trying to punch and electrocute him, "Master Akisame, did you make some improvements to these things? They even know how to dodge now!"

"Of course," Akisame simply stated as sip his tea nearby, "your opponents aren't going to stand there and let you punch them out. They'll do a little ducking and weaving every now and then…"

"But I doubt that they'll use electricity in battle!"

"You can never be too sure, Ken-chan," Kensei snickered as he continues to read a porn magazine nearby, "it is a very unpredictable world out there…"

"It's better to have a taste of it here than get the entire course out there," Sasaki muttered as he drank beer nearby, "Think of this as a warm up for when face it in the real world…"

"I appreciate your consideration," Kenichi screamed as several robots zap him, "but have it ever occur to you people there is something call 'too much of a good thing'?"

"Nope," Akisame immediately answered, "such phrase never exist in my book…"

"I can never have enough of a 'good' thing," Kensei snickered as stroke Miu's buttock as she happen to pass by.

"KYAA," Miu screamed as she tries to kick Kensei in the head, "Kensei, you pervert…!"

"Not my fault you let your guard down," Kensei foolishly giggled as evade all of Miu's attack.

"Crap, I'm out of beer," Sasaki grumbled before getting up and heading for the door, "I'm off to get more…"

"You people are dodging the subject!" Kenichi exclaimed as he continue getting shocked by the robots.

"Hey everyone, how are you all doing?" Honoka exclaimed as she and Apachai enter the room.

"Ah! Kenichi's little sister!" Miu squeaked before attempting to run over to Honoka and hug her.

"Back off Big Boobs!" Honoka snapped, scooting out of Miu's path.

"Honoka!" Kenichi exclaimed as he slitter his way out of the training robots, "When did you get here?"

"A few moments ago…"

"Kenichi," Akisame voiced in surprise, "who told you to stop training?"

"Oh," Sasaki muttered as he reenter the room with a beer bottle, "that little sister of Kenichi again…"

"Hmm," Kensei hummed in amusement as he took out a camera, "her 'size' has grown quite a bit! A few centimeter, might I add…"

**SLASH!**

Shigure, having been standing upside-down on the ceiling, shredded the camera with her sword.

"That's sexual harassment," Shigure stated dully, "…Kensei…"

"I-I understand," Kensei comically whimpered as Shigure's sword aim dangerously at his throat.

"Oh Shigure-san," Honoka laughed, "it's okay! Let him at least dream a dream he'll never have…"

"Oh?" Shigure quoted, "very…well."

"So where's the Old Grandpa?"

"The elder," Akisame answered as he dragged the screaming and pleading Kenichi back into center of the robots, "is currently on a journey to Afghanistan. Said something about 'liberating' it…"

"No!" Kenichi screamed, "Don't put back in there! At least allow me to write my will!"

"Old Grandpa not here, huh?" Honoka hummed, before shrugging it off, "Aw well, I'll get his approval later then…"

"Approval?" Shigure repeated, "Approval of…what?"

"To stay…"

"APA?" Apachai sounded in confusion, "Honoka is sleeping over?"

"No Apachai-san," Honoka giggled before putting on a big grin, "I've decided to learn martial arts at Ryozanpaku!"

* * *

A moment of silence passes by before a number of things happen at once.

Shigure fell from the ceiling in surprise;

Sasaki choked on his beer as a large quantity of it squirted out of his mouth;

Kensei dropped his backup camera on his foot, resulting in him hopping around in comical pain;

Akisame tripped on flat ground landing ungracefully head first, letting go Kenichi in the process;

Apachai join Miu in comical froze of dumbfound;

And Kenichi screamed his head off in comical shock and horror.

"You're going to WHAT?" Kenichi loudly asked.

"I'm going to learn martial arts at Ryozanpaku," Honoka repeated as if nothing had happen, "didn't you hear me the first time?"

Akisame, recovering from the disgraceful fall and regaining his composure, cleared his voice.

"Uh, young one," Akisame coughed, "Do you realize what training martial arts at Ryozanpaku means?"

"Of course," Honoka chimed, "it means that I get to learn how to defend myself and others against people who pick on the small or weak, having the power to uphold justice and undo wrong, saving people's life, no longer being a major burden to my brother like getting easily kidnapped, learning from history's greatest, coolest, and strongest master, sharing the same burden as my brother, hanging out with Shigure-san and Apachai-san when not training…should I continue?"

"Uh…"

"Well," Sasaki scratch the back of his head in embarrassment, "I-I don't know about 'greatest'…"

"O-Or 'coolest'…" Kensei scratch his cheek in the same manner.

"You guys are already falling for it!" Kenichi yelled in disbelief.

"Uh, Honoka-chan," Miu tried, "Ryozanpaku's training is a bit…uh, harsh. You should reconsider…"

"Not happening," Honoka interrupted, "I want to grow up to be able to hear people say, 'look, it's Kenichi's younger sister' not 'look, it's Kenichi pathetic, weak, damsel-in-distress little sister'! Besides, I've already got approval from my parents to let me do this…"

"Mom AND Dad allow you to do this?" Kenichi cried in disbelief, "How did it turn out like THAT?"

"Well…"

_

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Flashback…

"_Mom…Dad, I've been thinking," Honoka voiced at the dinner table suddenly, catching her parents attention, "I think I should go and stay at Ryozanpaku…"_

"_WHAT?" Mr. Shirahama yelled, startled by the proposal._

"_Honoka, why?" Mrs. Shirahama asked, a tad surprise._

"_Several reasons," Honoka began, "first off, I feel sorry for brother having to train 24/7 without at least one of his family member their to support him. Secondly, after a couple times seeing the members of Ryozanpaku in action I started to take an interest in material arts too so I want to learn from people I know and trust. Thirdly, I heard that a bunch of delinquents are popping up lately, I want to be able to defend myself and my friends if I run into one. And lastly, the best way to keep tab on brother's activity outside the house-hold is to always be at the one place he always is: Ryozanpaku…"_

_After a couple minutes of awestruck silence, Mr. Shirahama smiled and cleared his voice._

"_Well said, my daughter," he laughed, "and you've already come to the age when you can make your own decision so go and do what you know is right…"_

"_Oh, thanks dad," Honoka jumped in joy before going over to her dad and giving him a hug, "You're the best…"_

_Mr. Shirahama smiled as he watches his daughter went over to hug her mother before rushing upstairs to 'get packing'._

_Mrs. Shirahama turned to her husband in confusion._

"_Honey, I'm surprise," she stated, "you took that quite well, unlike with Kenichi…'_

"_Well," Mr. Shirahama began as he sip his tea, "Kenichi change so much after he start training at this dojo; he's become a better man than most others; I can almost say that he has become better than me. Our daughter now wishes to walk down the same path. This path no doubt will allow our child to grow; she'll be able to see the world much sooner and be more prepare. That's how I view Ryozanpaku now; they are the blacksmith that will turn our children into swords of greatness…"_

"_Oh~!" Mrs. Shirahama awed, totally impress, "that's…"_

"_Besides," Mr. Shirahama continue, "Unlike Kenichi, who's rock hard too stubborn in the head, our Honoka can simply quit if she sees that the task start getting impossible…"_

"_A-Ah, that's true," Mrs. Shirahama sweat dropped._

"_So that's how you think of brother now, " Honoka, whom had secretly reenter the room, snickered, "huh, dad? He's 'rock hard too stubborn in the head' huh? I think I'll tell this to brother about that…"_

"_AH!" Mr. Shirahama panicked, "WAIT!"_

_Flashback…End_

* * *

"…And that's how it happen," Honoka summed up.

"…'rock hard too stubborn in the head' huh?" Kenichi comically cried in despair, sarcastically laughing every now and then, "My own family thinks that way while I'm not around…! Ha, ha, ha…well, excuse me for having masters who wouldn't let me run away…"

"Kenichi, snap out of it," Miu tried to comfort her friend, "I'm sure it was a joke…really…"

"…Sure it was…"

"Hmm," the Elder spoke as he licked a large lollipop, "It would seems that she is dead set on being Ryozanpaku's second disciple…"

"It certainly seems so," Akisame cupped his chin in amusement.

"I don't know," Sasaki scratched the back of his head, "I don't take disciple…"

"How can you say that," Kensei sweat dropped, "after you took Kenichi as your first disciple?"

"That was different! I did it because…because…because it was birthday! Yeah, I was in a good mood and thought it would hurt to train just one…"

"Your lies," Shigure mumbled, "are getting more and more…pathetic…"

"APA!" Apachai cheered, "Apachai can now have a second disciple!"

"Hey wait a minute here!" Kenichi voiced, finally recover from the trauma, "I'm her big brother! Don't I have a say in this?"

"It is up to the master to decide whether to take any person in as a disciple," Akisame motioned, "the disciple, even if family-related, has in a sense 'no say' in the matter…"

"What? How…Wait a minute! Elder! When did you get back?"

With a slight jump, everyone turn to Hayato Furinji, who was still licking his lollipop.

"G-Grandpa!" Miu sounded in surprise.

"Whoa, how long were you there, old man!" Sasaki question in confusion.

"About a minute," the Elder chuckled, "around the time Honoka-chan was relating her story…"

"Go figures he can come and go without us knowing," Kensei muttered, "So how did Afghanistan went?"

"Better than I expected! As soon as they saw me they were all too willing to comply to whatever I say or want! I think they'll have at least two to three years of peace, depending if they are willing to follow my instruction…"

"I see," Akisame hummed before returning his attention to Honoka, "now about the issue on hand…"

"Ah yes," the Elder gave a small smile before addressing Honoka, "Now Honoka-chan, the world of martial arts is a dangerous and unforgiving world. There are people who won't hesitate in slaying you, child or not. Once you enter this world you cannot escape even if you try; the battles will keep coming and coming for the rest of your life. So I will personally ask you again: are you willing to devote your life to martial arts?"

"Yeah," Honoka gave an immediate determine reply, "I'm not going to let my brother walk that path alone…"

The masters of Ryozanpaku inwardly smiled; Honoka was a very determined girl.

Kenichi gave a defeated sigh. "…Alright, if that's how you want it Honoka I can't stop you now…at least I know Apachai-san and Shigure-san won't kill you…"

"Huh?" Honoka asked dumbly.

"Anyway," Kensei went on as he pulled out what looks like a contract and gave it to Honoka, "to become a official disciple of Ryozanpaku, you must first sign here…"

"No problem!" Using the pen Kensei gave her, Honoka eagerly wrote down her name.

"…Also the tuition fees: 2000 yen a month…"

"…Huh?"

"…Okay, how about 1000 yen…?"

"No, that's not it! It's just that I can now see why brother was always trying to save his money when he goes shopping with me…"

"Now you know…" Kenichi huffed a chuckle.

"Here you go," Honoka glee as she handed Kensei the money, "2000 yen in full…"

"Ah, thank you," Kensei happily accepted the money before addressing Kenichi, "You should learn from your little sister, Ken-chan; she paid in full price on her first day…"

"Master Kensei," Kenichi grumbled, "if I recalled correctly, you were the one who lower the fee to ¼ of the price before I got the chance to pay…"

"…W-Was that so?"

"So can I start now, masters?" Honoka asked.

"Ah yes," the Elder hummed, "but first, Akisame why don't you start her off…like how you did with Kenichi…"

"…Very well," Akisame smiled before his eyes glowed in excitement, "Ah~, how nostalgic~! It feels like I'm training Kenichi all over again! Lets begin~!"

Honoka stared at Akisame for a moment before turning to Kenichi.

"Should I start panicking?"

"…Yep!" Kenichi smiled wearily, "Welcome to the door of hell…"

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The firat chapter of one long journey. Stay tune for the next chapter! Please Review!


	2. Chapter 2

**Ryozanpaku Second Disciple**

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Disclaimer: No ownership! I don't know Muay Thai, Karate, Jujutsu, Chinese Kenpo, or kendo so I can't own Kenichi: History's Mightiest Disciple.

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It has been a couple of days since Honoka bravely (if not stupidly) came to stay and practice martial arts at Ryozanpaku; not much had change around the dojo except for the fact that there was an extra cry added to one of the many sound that escape from the place.

Kenichi was currently "sparring" with Apachai, fairing quite well for once. This however didn't please the disciple.

"Apachai-san, is there something wrong?" Kenichi asked in-between strikes, "you're not sparring as hard as usual…"

"APA?" Apachai dumbly asked, "What make Kenichi think so…?"

**WHAM!**

"Uh…well," Kenichi sweat dropped as he removed his fist from Apachai's nose, "that was the sixteenth time I was able to hit you this week…"

Apachai stared off behind Kenichi and replied, "APA, Apachai guess Apachai is worry…"

"Ah," Kenichi nervously laughed as turn around to watch what Apachai was watching, "right, about Honoka…"

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"Your head is too high!" Akisame yelled as he swung a stick at Honoka's head causing her to duck, "Lower your head more! And keep moving your legs between the pegs!"

"Y-Yes master!" Honoka screamed in agonizing pain, "But it's kind of hard to do that…"

"And why is THAT?"

"…Well, the pegs are higher when I crouch, so…"

"…uh…well…one minute break…"

"Yes sir…" Honoka quickly but gently set down the two large jug she was carrying for the training before falling flat on the ground, "my arms are numb…"

"Oh you'll get use to it," Akisame replied before turning to Apachai, "Apachai can you do me a favor and push these pegs a little deeper into the ground?"

"APA? No problem!" Apachai answered before in under a ten seconds he punched all the pegs underground, "All done…"

"Uh," Kenichi sweat dropped, "Master Akisame meant to make the pegs shorter not disappear…"

"APA? Did Apachai did something wrong?" Apachai asked dumbly as Akisame sweat dropped as well.

"So much for the 'peg obstacles'," Akisame muttered in disappointment before brightening, "right, let's end the day with another lap or two around the city then…"

"Ugh," Honoka grumble and turn to Kenichi, "was it always like this brother?"

"Uh," Kenichi sweat dropped, "kind of…"

"Well then," Akisame began to wander over to the entrance, "Honoka, saddle yourself up…"

"…Yes master," Honoka moaned as she got up and head over to the entrance.

"Honoka sure is obedient," Miu voiced as she and the other masters watch Honoka start running, dragging Akisame on a tire as he whipped her constantly to keep her speed up, "Was she always like that, Kenichi?"

"Well," Kenichi scratched the back of his head, "the one thing she and I have in common is sheer stubbornness. I bet she thinks anything I can do she can do too, so to her obeying everything is a way to express how serious she is about this…"

"At least she's not like Ken-chan when he started," Kensei chuckled.

"Yeah," Sasaki laughed, "Kenichi was crying like a baby after the first couple of days…"

"Ha, ha, very funny! Everyone get a good laugh at the first person brave enough to stay here with you monsters…" Kenichi huffed before being sent flying by Apachai's punch into a wall.

"Kenichi!" Miu screamed as she ran over to the wall where he lays unconscious.

"APA! Kenichi, why didn't you dodge?" Apachai asked comically.

"You just suddenly punch," Shigure muttered, "…him…"

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Several teenage girls ran along the bank of the river, running hard to be ready for the meet coming up soon. One of the girls looked up to see Akisame on a tire being drag by Honoka and called, "Hello sir, I see you're training someone new this time…"

"Indeed I am," Akisame cheerfully return the greeting, "and I see you all are working hard as well…"

Another girl giggled. "Well, not as hard as that child apparently…"

"Anyway," the lead girl shouted back to Akisame as they group depart from view, "keep up the good work…!"

"She will," Akisame called back before turning back to Honoka and began to whip her again, "just because they were around, it doesn't mean you could slow down…!"

"S-Sorry sir! I'll try to run faster," Honoka cried as she sped up her pace.

"Ah, much better!"

"Ha, ha, ha, ha!" A laugh from behind shattered the silence, "I see you getting slower and softer, Akisame…"

"That voice," Akisame growled inwardly, slightly turning his head to glance behind him to confirm his suspicion, "you dare say that to me, Boxing Ring God of Destruction James Shiba!"

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Sure enough, it was indeed the Boxing Ring God of Destruction, smirking as he rode the back of his disciple, Takada.

"Huh?" James exclaimed in surprise, "either you have a new engine or Shirahama shrunk and change his gender…"

"Huh?" Honoka turn to see the two, "Hey, you're that friend of brother that I met that one time at that run-down building!"

"WHA?" Takada stammered as he realize who it was pulling Akisame, "You're Kenichi little sister! What are you doing?"

"I just became Ryozanpaku's second disciple!"

"Are you KIDDING? That's as worse as if you are training under Master James," Irritated, James flicked Takada's forehead hard, "Ouch! I was only kidding, Master…!"

"So you're even taking in little kids now, eh?" James smirked, "you must be really desperate for money now! Not surprising since your small and pitiful mustache couldn't help you get any cash…"

An anime vein popped on the Jujutsu Master's head as he grumpily countered, "Well at least I can get a second disciple! You were lucky to have found one just as stupid as you to call a disciple, you mustache-bragging imbecile…"

"That's not funny," James huffed as he yank Takada's ponytail, "Speed up my disciple; let's leave these losers in the dust where they belong…"

"That hurts!" Takada screamed in pain as he gains speed.

"Who are you calling 'losers', James," Akisame huffed as he began to whip Honoka harder, "Go, Honoka! Show that mustache-bragging man the power of a youngster!"

"Ouch!" Honoka cried, "the whipping was not necessary, master…!"

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Both Disciple-and-Master continue to race against each other before Takada began to pull away.

"Ha, ha," James bragged, "you two are nothing but talk now…"

"Damn you," Akisame inwardly growled.

Honoka, meanwhile, was also piss. She didn't mind that this God of Destruction and Akisame was arguing; she didn't mind that she was being used to show who was the better; she can even care less about who had the better mustache. But she was definitely not going to be label as a "nothing but talk" kind of person.

Thinking quickly, Honoka addressed Akisame. "Master can I borrow that whip for a bit? I promise it's for the greater good!"

Akisame didn't know what Honoka would want the whip for, but his curiosity allow him to hand the whip to the still running disciple.

Not wasting a moment, Honoka sinisterly and cunningly whipped James' buttocks.

"YEOW!" James shouted as his reflex cause him to stand up…on top of Takada's back. With the suddenly extra "weight", Takada topple over causing James to fly face first into the dirt.

Honoka, using the opportunity, race ahead before exclaimed back, "I win this race!"

"You're the LOWEST, Akisame!" James shouted in anger and humiliation, face covered in dirt and still holding his buttocks in pain.

"I don't know what you are talking about, James!" Akisame called back, trying his best to suppress his laugh and grin.

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Later that day, Honoka found herself trying to protect her dinner from Kensei and Sasaki. Try as she might though, the second she look down, she found that only 1/8 of her meal was left.

"My dinner," Honoka whimpered, "What have I ever done to you, masters…?"

"Hey," Sasaki murmured, "Since when did I ever accepted you as a disciple?"

"Don't think badly of me, Honoka-chan," Kensei smiled, "protecting your food is part of the training…"

"But there's a limit to how much you can take you know," Honoka mumbled as she began to eat what remains of her food.

"I'll have to agree with Honoka on that part," Akisame intervened, "are you trying to make our new disciple first few days here a disaster?"

The room got eerily silent as everyone eyed Akisame.

"What?" Akisame looked at everyone.

"APA?" Apachai exclaimed, "Akisame said something supportive for disciple!"

"Dude," Sasaki chuckled nervously, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Akisame calmly answered, "Besides I was always against this from the start, was I not?"

"Well," Kenichi mumbled, "that's true…"

The Elder laughed. "But you never voiced it openly before…"

"I have," Akisame countered, "you people just don't pay attention…"

As he said that, Akisame quickly swipe some of the food from Kenichi's bowl and place them in Honoka's.

"Anyway," he continued, "No more food swiping from this point on, agree?"

Everyone nodded as they went back to eating. That is until…

"Huh," Honoka bulge her eyes, "how did my bowl got refill?"

"What the?" Kenichi cried, "how did my bowl end up half empty?"

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Please review this story and stay tune for the next chapter!


	3. Chapter 3

**Ryozanpaku Second Disciple**

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Disclaimer: APA! Hello, Apachai have your child, but Normama does own Kenichi: History's Mightiest Disciple!

Normama: But I do own the various OC that will appear in this chapter who would be important to the story later on.

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Two days later, and the screams from Ryozanpaku can still be heard. If people were to look inside, they would understand why.

Both Kenichi and Honoka were running extremely fast in a large hamster wheel, partly to generate electricity to charge up a fairly large battery nearby and partly to avoid the sharp spikes that pointed dangerously at their back.

"This is TOO extreme!" Kenichi cried, "Did you HAVE to INCLUDE the spikes?"

"Why not?" Akisame hummed, "the best way to pull out a human's full potential is to put them in a situation that force them to use it…"

"While I understand that master," Honoka tiredly huffed, "did you ever think that we'll run out of air at some point?"

"Don't worry, you just need to do this for about a minute more and then you can rest…"

The Shirahama siblings groan as they continue to run. Nearby, the rest of Ryozanpaku masters watch the scene.

"Things are getting more interesting now that Honoka-chan had join," Kensei smiled.

"You only say that because you get a chance to harass Kenichi's little sister, given the chance," Sasaki groaned in annoyance.

"So," Shigure mumbled as she polishes her sword, "…true…"

"APA," Apachai sighed, "but Akisame is having all the fun. Apachai want to start training Honoka…"

"If Honoka-chan starts training with anyone else right now," the Elder noted, licking another lollypop, "she won't last. Let Akisame work his magic on her and get her ready. Then we can start…"

Sasaki grunted. "Well, when the time comes knock yourself out. I don't plan on taking another disciple…"

"Sure you won't," Kensei snickered.

"Okay," Akisame smiled at last, "I believe we have enough power stored up, you can stop now…"

"Finally," Honoka exhaled as she slowed her pace.

"AH-! Honoka!" Kenichi screamed, "Not yet…!"

Too little, too late; Honoka had came to a full stop and end up getting caught in the wheel, which in turn accidentally tripped Kenichi, which in turn cause him to get tangle in the wheel, which ended with both of them tumbling head over feet in the wheel.

"Oh dear," Akisame commented, "Honoka forgot the most important lesson…it isn't over until it's over…"

* * *

Honoka, the next day, found herself with her chin resting onto of a desk. It has only been about two weeks since she joined Ryozanpaku and already she felt that almost all of her energy is sucked out of her. Her eyelids droop every-now-and-then, part of her still trying to stay awake.

That was when a mid-age woman with her long red hair bundled up and wore sharp glasses over her sapphire eyes walked up besides her, glaring at her as she did.

"Are you implying," the woman spoke down to Honoka, "that you find my lesson are suddenly boring, Ms. Shirahama?"

Honoka tiredly stared up at Ms. Akashi, her homeroom teacher, who was currently teaching Home-Economics. She was known for being a strict but fair and kind teacher, supporting those who wishes to learn and disciplined those who don't appreciate the education. She does sometime tend to accidentally go overboard though.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Akashi," Honoka mumbled weakly, "but I've very tired lately…"

Ms. Akashi placed her hand on Honoka's forehead to check her temperature.

"You don't seem to have a fever," Ms. Akashi hummed, "so why are you tired from? Playing games all night?"

"No really," Honoka denied, trying to lift her head, "It's more like…learning something…new…"

And with that, the last of her strength fade and her head crashed back onto the desk unconscious.

"…Okay," the teacher sweat dropped before turning to her class, "children, who will escort our 'sleeping princess' to the infirmary so she could have a proper rest?"

A girl seating next to Honoka raised her hand, wishing to volunteer herself. While most of her golden hair flowed free, a few was braided in two pigtails, both tied at the end with red ribbons and had light blue eyes. She also wore a mouth mask, so most of her face can't be seen.

"I'll do," she shyly voiced.

"Ah, Ms. Atsuko," Ms. Akashi smiled, "Yes, please take Ms. Shirahama to the infirmary…"

The girl nodded as she went and did her duty.

"Now," Ms. Akashi wondered as she return to the front of the room, "where was I?"

* * *

The shy blonde hair girl made her way slowly to the infirmary, carrying the sleep-struck Honoka by the arm and trying her best not to wake her up.

It didn't work however as Honoka steadily open her eyes.

"…Huh? What?" she asked dumbly, before turning to the girl in surprise, "Oh, Naoki-chan! Uh…did I fell asleep?"

Naoki Atsuko (which means "kind and docile tree child" with her surname) blushed a bit and turned her head away. She just simply nodded.

"Oh, this isn't good," Honoka mumbled as she mentally slap herself, "and I thought my grades in Home-Economics was going to be bad before…"

"…Don't worry," Naoki shyly spoke, still blushing, "I'm sure Ms. Akashi would understand…"

"If only it were that simple," Honoka sighed as she try to break free of Naoki's grip, "Look Naoki-chan, I'm fine! Let's go back before we miss anymore lessons…"

"…Honoka-chan, even if you're determined, without rest it would amount to nothing. Rest and regain your strength, your enthusiasm…your charms…"

"Huh?"

"Err…nothing…"

Honoka gave Naoki a peculiar look as Naoki looked away, blushing. Shrugging it off, Honoka thought back to what she had heard, and decided that she was right. That was when another thought struck her, making the situation look totally ironic.

"You know, Naoki-chan," Honoka chuckled, "this situation reminder me of that one time, remember? Only our roles were reverse…"

Naoki looked at Honoka in astonishment before nodding, her face blushing heavily.

How can she, of all people, forget? It was about a month or so ago when Naoki transfer to Honoka's school. Her family had moved to the area so that she recuperates quicker from her health issue.

You see, ever since her third birthday, Naoki was plagued with one sickness after another; she would almost literally get sick right after recovering from another. The doctors could not find a suitable explanation for this phenomenal, nor could they find a cure, only that it's surprising that she had survived to the age of five, let alone thirteen.

Her parents, worry about their delicate child, took matters into their own hand and tried every trick in the book, which seems to be working. They had move believing the "atmosphere in Tokyo" can help. And they were mostly right…just, not exactly in the way they had expected.

When she first came, many of the children (not understanding her condition) tease her constantly, calling her "gas mask" (obviously for her mouth mask) or "mouth-less" (since no one could see her mouth and she doesn't initially speak, being shy and all). One time, a boy had ripped the mask off her and had used it in a cruel game of "Monkey in the Middle", with Naoki desperately trying to retrieve it.

That was when she appeared. Armed with Piko Hammer pulled from pocket-space, Honoka punished, more-or-less, the bullies and retrieve the mask for Naoki. But it wasn't long before Naoki began to cough blood, frightening most of the kids around her. Despite this Honoka, along with one of the male bully, helped her to the infirmary.

Ever since that day, Naoki had befriended Honoka and had become more open to those around her, especially to Honoka. In fact…

"Hey, Naoki," Honoka interrupted her daydream, "we're here…"

"Huh?" Naoki looked up and saw that they had reach the infirmary, "Oh, sorry…"

"Don't be," Honoka chuckled, getting off of Naoki, "I can take over from here. You better get back or you'll miss the lesson as well…"

"…Um…are you sure you don't need…um…company?"

"I'll be fine, I'll just take a quick nap and be back in class before you can say 'class dismiss'…"

Naoki giggled as she watched Honoka disappeared into the room. She was definitely the youngest Shirahama child that she had fell in love with.

* * *

Later that day, Honoka was finally able to leave the infirmary; her body and mind almost fully energized again. However it would seems that she had spent too much in the medical wing since now she only has five minutes left in her Home-Economics class.

Still hoping to get something to learn, she quickly paced herself back to the classroom (since good kids shouldn't run in the hallway).

"Even if Ms. Akashi understand," Honoka muttered to herself, "the last I want is to miss out on anymore Home-Economics subjects and drop my grades any further…"

Unfortunately, she was so focus on counting her losses, that she didn't noticed that she walking straight into the path of a boy with comb-downed gray hair wearing oversize standard school uniform carrying a stack of papers and materials.

They crashed into each at high speed, mostly done by Honoka, and both fell to the floor with the papers and materials scatter all around.

"Ouch," Honoka yelped, "did someone get the license number of that truck…?"

The boy, recovering from the collision, blushed heavily as he realize whom he had bumped into as he shakily replied, "Uh…I'm pretty sure even if I got it, it end up as your student ID number, Shirahama-chan…"

"Huh?" Honoka blinked only to realize who she was talking to, "Ah! Michio-senpai!"

Ryuu Michio (a name that means "Dragon spirit on the correct path" with his surname) chuckled nervously as he began to recollect the papers and materials he collected.

He is obviously one grade higher than Honoka and came from a family that was constantly having financial problem, which would explain the "hand-me-downs" clothes. Both of his parents had to work all day/night to pay the monthly rent and Ryuu's education.

Despite his name, Ryuu hadn't exactly been following the "correct" path. Since his parents were barely able to make ends meet, he decide to take matters into his own hand and quickest way he knew was simply to bully other fortunate kids for their lunch money or whatnot.

But what started as bully for just money soon got him into a group that bully just for fun, which he didn't enjoy but cannot stop; it was either he was in or out at the time and Ryuu prompt to continue swimming with the fish. So whether he liked it or not, he had to help bully other kids, money or no money.

Then came a day when the shy Naoki Atsuko came to school. To Ryuu, she was a particularly odd one; young and attractive but rarely speaks or hang out. She soon became a popular target for teasing and bullying; they would poke at her, try to trip her, call her names, and other like the sort. Nevertheless, it would almost seem like Naoki wasn't even fazed by them; none can really tell since most of her facial expression was hidden by her mouth mask.

Then, out of the blue, one of the bullies ripped the mask off of Naoki and refused to give it back, despite her pleading him to return it. It was going too far to Ryuu; it was one thing to bullying "just for fun", but now it had cross the line. He would have snapped and gone to take the mask back if she hadn't come.

Honoka had quickly swipe the mask out of the bullies hand and gave each of them a bonk on the head with her Piko Hammer (where or how she got it remains a mystery to him). Ryuu also got a smack, despite not being part of bullying, but he shrugged it off quickly when he noticed that Naoki was coughing blood.

Most of the student nearby had backed away in fright, some shrieked, some just took off (mostly the bullies), but they all did nothing to help Naoki who continued to coughed blood, getting weaker by the second.

That is, until Honoka began to aid her, try to carry her to the infirmary. But Naoki was so weak by that time that she could even support herself, so Honoka had difficulties. Seeing how badly Naoki was, and feeling partly responsible for what was happening, Ryuu finally decided to help (much to many students' surprise).

Once in the infirmary, Ryuu try to apologize to Naoki, but she kindly told him, "it's alright, you don't need to apologize; I'm used to it…"

Those words stuck his heart in many ways, but it was from that point on that he decided to quit his life of bullying and swore that he wouldn't let anything like that happen to Naoki again (despite her protest).

It was also around this time that he befriended Honoka as well. Despite being younger than him by a year, Ryuu had found that Honoka was very pleasant to be around, especially with Naoki. In fact you could even say…

"Here you Michio-senpai," Honoka interrupted his retrospect, handing a small stack of paper she had help picked up, "And sorry about bumping into you like that…"

"It's okay," Ryuu chuckled, accepting the stack, "but I keep telling you not to call me Michio-senpai; it makes me sound old…"

"I'll stop when you stop calling me Shirahama-chan…"

Ryuu laughed. "Okay, Honoka-chan…"

"Thank you, Ryuu-senpai…"

Ryuu sighed since he did not seeing how replacing his surname made a difference. "Well, at least you kept your word…"

Honoka giggled innocently until she remembered something.

"OH NO," Honoka cried, "I only got TWO minute of class by now…"

After a quick bow to Ryuu, she sped off (not caring if she was running in the hall), hoping to make it to class.

"Uh…see you at lunch break!" Ryuu called after her, hoping that she had heard, before shaking his head in disbelief, "I understand Naoki, but how did I end up falling for HER too…?"

* * *

It was finally lunchtime and everybody was enjoying their food…well, almost everybody…

"Don't worry, Honoka-chan," Naoki tried to comfort the sulking Honoka, "at least you made it before the bell rung…"

Honoka scoffed. "Yeah, only by a second before the bell rang…how humiliating…"

"Get over it, Honoka-chan," Ryuu chuckled to Honoka's left, "everybody gets humiliated at least once…"

"Oh, that's VERY encouraging…"

Ryuu and Naoki chuckled to themselves lightly as another student made her way to their table.

She has long red hair, held back by a black ribbon with cartoon sun face design all over it. She also has a pair of earring in the shape of tiny birds and had three feathers tuck behind her right ear.

"Hey, Honoka!" the girl called, "feeling better now?"

Honoka looked up and smiled at the sight of the girl.

"Class Rep!" Honoka hollered back, which in turn made the redhead anime trip.

"Honoka!" the girl lectured with an anime vein pop, "how many times do I have to tell YOU that you don't need to call ME by that title?"

Honoka giggled. "Okay, okay, I get it, Saki-chan…"

Saki Suzume (meaning "Blossoming Sparrow") smiled. "That's better…"

"Hi, Suzume-san," Naoki and Ryuu greeted, upon which Saki preformed an anime faint.

"Oh come on!" she start lecturing the two, "How many times do I have to tell the two of YOU that's it's okay to call me by my FIRST name?"

"S-Sorry, Suzume- I mean, Saki-san," Naoki apologize nervously.

"I'll stop it when you stop putting 'senpai' at the end of my name," Ryuu smirked craftily.

"Fine, Ryuu-kun…happy now?"

"Quite, Saki-san…"

Satisfy, Saki sat down with them before handing several pieces of paper to Honoka.

"W-What's this?" Honoka asked dumbly, "a list of punishment for dozing off and skipping class?"

"No, bonehead," Saki laughed, "that's Ms. Akashi's lecture and examples. I wrote everything that went on in class on there…"

"HUH? Really?" Honoka quickly scan the papers before giving Saki a big happy hug. "Oh~ thanks Saki-chan, I don't know what I would do without you…"

Blushing from the sudden embrace, Saki chuckled at Honoka's happiness. "Yes, you're very welcome…but could let go now? Three second rule…I can't breathe…"

"Oh, sorry…" With that Honoka release Saki.

"Jeez," Saki sighed brushing herself off, "you're just lucky that I noticed your energy dip at the beginning of class, otherwise you wouldn't have anything…"

"Thanks again, but why did you do it?"

"Oh, come on," Saki huffed, feeling insulted, "although I'm not fond of it, I'm the Class Rep; it's my job to make sure to keep my classmate in tiptop shape…"

"Oh, that makes a lot of sense…"

"Besides," Saki added with a smirk, flicking Honoka's forehead lightly, "we're friends, first and foremost, remember?"

Honoka chuckled to herself.

It was years ago when the two first met; they had, in fact, met when they first enter school.

Back then, Honoka was more of a crybaby than a supporter of justice while Saki was extremely assertive and outgoing. No one was sure how these two had manage to become friends, only that it seems since their first day together had they been friends.

Truth to be told, they had indeed met on their first school day but it was at a park where they had met.

Both had taken a path that had taken pass the park; both had spotted a nest of tiny baby birds that had fallen from their tree; both had wanted to help them.

But, at the time, Saki was afraid of heights and Honoka could climb up at least to the lowest branch of which the nest had fallen from. So by working together, with Honoka balancing on top of Saki, they safely return the nest back to where it belongs.

Somehow or another, that event got the two to be almost inseparable; they had been friends since. When someone tries to tease Honoka, Saki would jump in and chase them away. When Saki needs someone to listen to her many troubles, Honoka would respectfully listen and would help think of ideas that would help (which some actually work).

They company each others for years, learning from each other; from Saki, Honoka learn to stick up for herself; from Honoka, Saki learn to be a better person for those around her.

Only a few knew about this, and Naoki and Ryuu were two of them.

"To think," Naoki smiled warmly, "that you two became the best of friends from helping baby birds…"

"Baby 'sparrow' birds, might I add," Honoka lightly nudged Saki.

"It was only a coincidence," Saki nudged back, "and as I recall, you were wearing white panties back then…"

Honoka, Naoki, and Ryuu blushed at the last comment.

"Saki-chan!" Honoka hissed in embarrassment, "not in front of Naoki-chan and Ryuu-senpai! You pervert!"

"Oh, come on, it's no big deal," Saki continued, before noticing the other two's expression, "what's wrong with you two?"

Snapping out of their daydream, Naoki and Ryuu quickly wave their hand in front of them.

"N-N-N-Nothing's w-wrong," they replied at the same time.

After a few uncomfortable moments of feeling Saki staring at them curiously, Naoki and Ryuu was relieve when Saki turn her attention back to Honoka.

"Now then," Saki huffed, "jokes aside, Honoka I want to ask you something…"

"What is it?" Honoka asked innocently.

"What exactly are you doing that got you to lose so much energy?"

"I'm curious too," Naoki spoke up, "this is the first time I saw you not able to keep your eyes open…"

"Let alone needing to go to the infirmary," Ryuu added, having heard from Naoki.

"Uh," Honoka mused, wondering if she should tell them, "I guess you could say that I'm learning martial arts…"

"Really?"

"Well, it more like bodybuilding at the moment…"

"That's what got you so tried?" Naoki wondered.

"Yeah, I've been doing it for nearly two weeks…"

"And it got you this exhausted?" Saki asked in disbelief, "No, I won't except it! We can't have Honoka wiped out even before getting to school…"

"I'll be alright, Saki-chan," Honoka reassured, "I was just feeling a little more wore out than before just for today. It won't happen again…"

"I don't know," Naoki mumbled in worry, "maybe you should wait until you finish school before doing this kind of things…"

"I'll be fine," Honoka insisted, "beside, I'm going down a path that I can't stop going since I plan to finish it…no matter how long it takes…"

Saki, Naoki, and Ryuu glanced at each other before smiling at Honoka.

"Okay, Honoka-chan," Ryuu stated, "but if things get worse, don't expect us to remain quiet."

"Alright," Honoka chuckled, "now let's get eating before the bell ring on us…"

* * *

School was finally over and Honoka was once again inside Ryozanpaku.

"Well," Honoka sighed, "I better talk to Master Akisame about the training session so that my friends won't worry…"

After getting into her training uniform, Honoka went straight toward the main building to meet her brother and Akisame for the training.

However, when she got to the main building she found that everyone was there, with a serious expression on their faces.

"Whoa," she staggered back, "what's going on?"

"Ah, Honoka-chan," the Elder greeted, "perfect timing, come over here and sit…"

Obeying, Honoka did so.

"Honoka," Akisame started, "I'm afraid we have bad news; we can't train you anymore…"

"…W-What?" Honoka asked, not believing what she had heard. It was such a huge shock for her; she hadn't been prepared at all. "W-W-Why?"

"Ryozanpaku had suddenly face a terrible crisis," Kensei explained, "one of which we never faced before and would require our full attention. We can't afford to have a new student around during this time…"

"B-But…"

"Sorry," Shigure sighed, as well as Apachai, "Honoka, it's too…dangerous…"

"This crisis," Akisame continued, "will be so large in fact that I fear that even we may not survive. So in the interest of safety, you must return home…"

Honoka didn't replied; she kept silent with her face hidden behind shadows.

"If we survive, which in this case is very rare, we will call you back and resume the training. But if we don't…"

"No," Honoka suddenly voiced, "I'm staying…"

Everyone looked at Honoka in surprise.

"Honoka," Kenichi yelled, only to be interrupted by Honoka.

"No, Brother," Honoka mumbled, "I've made up my mind! I don't care if Ryozanpaku is under siege or going to be obliterated off the face of the Earth; I'm staying! I made a choice to enter the world of Martial Arts, and I plan to stick to it the very end! Even if I knew I'm going to die next month, week, or day I'm still going to learn Martial Arts! I want to practice Martial Art to help others in times of need, just like now, and if I run now…no, I will NOT run; I rather die than betray what I'm doing this for. You can try, but I won't budge from Ryozanpaku…"

* * *

Honoka glared around, seeing if they dare force her out. However, either her eyes were playing tricks on her or she actually saw all of them smile.

It must have been the later since the Elder suddenly started clapping.

"Well put, Honoka-chan, well put," the Elder congratulated between chuckles, "see you all, I told you she's ready…"

"I never doubted her," Akisame smiled, "told you it was unnecessary Kensei…"

"ME?" Kensei barked back, "YOU are the one who came up with the idea…"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Akisame rejected, stroking his mustache.

"APA!" Apachai exclaimed, "Akisame is stroking his mustache, that means he is lying!"

"…Uh…" Akisame sweat dropped.

"And he calls Master Sasaki a Bad Lair," Kenichi sweat dropped.

"Hey!" Sasaki growled.

Blinking, Honoka was as confused as a penguin in the desert.

"Uh," Honoka began, "What's going on?"

"Oh, sorry Honoka," Kenichi laughed, "Don't worry about what was being said before. It was all just a test…"

"A test? A test for what?"

Before Kenichi could respond, Akisame slapped his knee hard catching everyone's attention.

"Right!" Akisame declared, "Honoka we will start training you actually Martial Arts now!"

"…What? Really?"

"Do I look like I'm joking?"

Thrilled at the news, Honoka leapt a clear two meters into the air in pure. "Yes! I'm finally going to learn Martial Arts!"

"APA," Apachai cheered, "Honoka, let me start with teaching you Muay Thai so you can kill your enemy!"

"Hold on there, Apachai," Kensei interjected, "I want to teach her first…"

"You just want to harass…her," Shigure mumbled.

Honoka looked with a smile on as the masters argue among themselves to see who will be teaching her first.

And so begins a new chapter in Honoka life.

"This going to be great," Honoka gave a determine punch in the air, before crossing her arm in confusion, "but why do I get the feeling that I'm forgetting to do something?"

* * *

Another chapter uploaded! Please review!


	4. Chapter 4

**Ryozanpaku Second Disciple**

* * *

Disclaimer: Ryozanpaku is own by the six masters of martial arts, they also own Kenichi and in this story Honoka. I, on the other hand, only own the plot line.

* * *

"So," Honoka sweat dropped as she stared at what appears to be a statue wearing a material arts shirt, "what am I looking at again, Master Akisame?"

"Well, Honoka," Akisame smiled, "this here piece of work is the 'Throwing Buddha Dummy' made particularly for your first technique exercise…"

"The 'Throwing Buddha Dummy'? It sounds like it's being insulted as I humiliate it…"

"…insulted as you humiliate it…?"

"Yeah, after all you named it after Buddha, but then you call it a 'dummy' and I'm supposes to throw 'Buddha' to the ground like I throw a 'bad guy'. So it does feel like I'm insulting and humiliating Buddha…"

"…Right, putting that aside, let's get on with the exercise which will involve my 'Throwing God Dummy'…"

Honoka sweat dropped. "…You just…changed the name…"

* * *

Nearby, Kenichi, Miu, and Sasaki watched as Akisame continued his lesson.

"How nostalgic," Kenichi giggled, "I remember this being my second technique training session…"

"Huh?" Miu backtracked, "I thought it was your 'first' technique training session…"

"Stupid," Sasaki huffed, "You taught him how to do that 'foot work', remember?"

"…Oh yeah, I forgot about that…"

"Hey, Master Sasaki," Kenichi began as they now watch Honoka trying to throw the statue, "you think she'll be alright?"

"Who knows?" Sasaki replied, "you two are almost totally opposite. I you got no talent but you're a workaholic and make up for it while your sister got some talents but may not be able to take it…so it's kind of hard to see how it would turn out…"

"…Insult me more about me being talent-less, why don't you…"

* * *

Honoka huffed; Honoka puffed; Honoka pulled. But no matter what she did, she couldn't move the statue.

"Jeez," Honoka strained, "why is it so hard to move it!"

Akisame laughed. "Well, you need to think about the center of gravity as well…"

Question marks popped out of Honoka's head. "T-The center of gravity…?"

"The center of gravity is the area of the body that keeps one solid on the ground," Akisame pointed to the statue's waist, "for most humans, it is around the waist area…" He then pushed the head of the statue, tipping it slightly, before pushing the bottom of the leg, shifting it slightly. "Simply put: if you amply force to either ends of the center of gravity…" With that, he sent the dummy flying to the ground. "…you can easily knock them down…"

"S-So cool!" Honoka exclaimed before recapping, "right! The center of gravity…!"

"Alright," Akisame stated as he reposition the statue to standing again, "lets continue…"

* * *

Later that day, it was Kensei's turn to teach.

"Alright, Honoka-chan," Kensei grinned, "I'll be teaching you the fundamental of attacking and defending at the same time…"

"You can attack and defend at once?" Honoka asked, "Is that even possible?"

"Oh, it's possible," Kensei chuckled, before noticing the glaring eyes of Kenichi and Miu, "W-What's wrong with you two?"

"Oh, nothing," Miu grumbled, "just making sure you don't do anything 'unnecessary'…"

"Everything I do is necessary," Kensei insisted before adding, "no matter how impure it may seem…"

Kenichi and Miu sweat dropped as Sasaki just snorted.

"Anyway, Honoka-chan, watch carefully," Kensei suddenly got into a stance that look like a combination of 'head-butting' and 'long stride', "you can't escape your enemy by stepping back; instead you should step forward and attack at the place where they can't retaliate…Now you try it…"

Obeying, Honoka try her best to mimic the stance.

"No, no, no," Kensei shook his head as he went over and readjust her body, "your head should be low enough to be able to bypass any attempted punch but high enough so that you don't smack into someone's poor manhood. And don't from fist with your hand, you need them to grab their leg. You also need to make your stride longer to get into the belly region…"

"R-Right," Honoka noted, noticing that Kensei was 'having a little fun' while adjusting her.

"Master Kensei!" Kenichi screeched, "Stop HARASSING my sister!"

"I'm not harassing," Kensei insisted, making a foolish face, "I'm just correcting her stance…"

"Yeah~, sure you are~! You pervert!" Miu booed.

"So," Honoka stated, as if nothing was happening, "Master Kensei, is my body low enough yet?"

"No, you going way to low," Kensei half sighed and half giggled as he reach for her chest region to 'readjust' her rise, "here, let me he-…"

But before he could continue, Honoka gave Kensei a hard elbow into the face just as he got too close to dodge.

"Oh~, sorry, Master Kensei," Honoka innocently apologized as she watch Kensei roll all over the ground holding his nose, "But I could have swore that I saw a mosquito flying around me so, by coincidence, I took it out right as I got a chance! I wasn't trying to hit you, Master Kensei…"

Miu and Kenichi blinked before bursting out laughing.

"Well," Sasaki smirked, "she definitely got one HUGE mosquito…"

* * *

"APA!" Apachai cheered, "Now it's Apachai's turn!"

"Right! Lets get started Master Apachai," Honoka grinned as she smash her two boxing mitts together.

"…A-APA…"

"Huh? What's wrong, Master Apachai?"

"APA! Apachai is not use to Honoka call calling Apachai 'master'…"

"Oh! Then how about if I just call you Apachai-san again…"

"APA! Apachai like that!"

"Okay, now we can start again!"

Sasaki, Kenichi, Miu and now Shigure watch as Apachai directed Honoka's punches.

"Fortunately for Honoka," Kenichi huffed, "Apachai can go really easy on kids…"

"I'm glad," Miu sighed in relief, "I don't want to see the look on either of their faces if Apachai accidentally sent her to hell for a bit…"

"Alright, Honoka!" Apachai cheered, "You're doing good! Great! Now dodge this!"

Apachai suddenly aim a fast punch to Honoka only for her to duck and try to punch Apachai in the chin, which he blocked.

"Aw! I nearly got you!" Honoka pouted, but still kept trying.

"Honoka was close!" Apachai complimented, "Apachai better watch out from now on!"

"Stop it, Apachai-san, you're making me blush…"

Apachai sent another punch, this time without a warning, and sent Honoka to the ground with swirls in her eyes.

"Oops!" Apachai panicked, "Sorry Honoka! Apachai forgot to warn you! Please don't die!"

Laughing, Honoka got up. "Don't worry, Apachai-san, I'm not dying! But what was that? I didn't even see it coming…"

Blinking for a moment, Apachai smiled. "APA, Honoka just need to watch the enemies' shoulder movement next time so Honoka not get surprise…"

"Right…shoulder movement…got it!"

"Well," Shigure spoke, "they sure are having a lot of…fun…"

Miu and Kenichi stared at Shigure; they can tell that she wanted to teach Honoka, but they both know that it was almost out of the question.

The key word, of course, was "Almost"…

"Hey, Shigure-san," Honoka called over to the group, "when I'm done with Apachai-san, you be next right?"

Shigure blinked. "Um…sure?"

Honoka giggled. "I can't wait!"

Blinking again, Shigure couldn't help but smile.

* * *

"…Why are we training with rollup newspaper?" Honoka asked, finding Shigure and herself holding a roll of newspaper.

"This way it would be safer," Miu explained as set down the last of Shigure's hidden rapiers next to a pile of Sai, Knives, Chains, Shurikens, Darts, and of course the katana known as the "Secret of the Steel" (her main weapon).

"Fighting with newspaper," Shigure mumbled, "isn't…helpful…"

"Yeah," Honoka huffed in agreement, "at least let her us use knives…"

"No," Kenichi hurryingly exclaimed, "Absolutely not! You'll be killed!"

"Shigure-san doesn't kill! It'll be alright…"

"Then what do you call THAT?" Kenichi pointed to Kensei who was pinned to the wall by a couple of shurikens and his hat sliced in half.

"It was Master Kensei's fault for being how he is…"

"Well, yeah, but…"

The Elder, whom had decided to watch with everyone, suddenly start laughing.

"Honoka-chan has such high confidence," the Elder remarked, "but Honoka-chan, before wanting to use blades, why don't you try besting Shigure with a newspaper first! Then we'll talk…"

Honoka looked at the Elder skeptically, before sighing. "Okay fine, we'll do your way…"

"Boo," Shigure replied to the Elder in similar manner.

"Master Akisame," Kenichi turned to the Philosophical Jujutsu Master, "will Honoka come out of this alive?"

"To be honest I hope so," Akisame mused in worry, "You were smart enough to avoid most of her lesson, of which I approve, but Honoka thinks of Shigure as a friend rather than just a teacher. That is dangerous in the world of Martial Arts, especially in Shigure's line of work…"

"APA," Apachai panicked, "I hope Shigure won't cut anything off!"

"At best," Miu sweat dropped in worry, "Honoka will only lose some of her hair…"

Sasaki made no comment as he watch Honoka and Shigure square off.

Back with Honoka and Shigure, Shigure had gotten into a stance.

"Take your…stance," Shigure directed.

"Uh," Honoka got into what she think is a stance, "like this?"

"What?" Shigure mumbled as she whacked Honoka's weaponless hand, "are you asking me to take your…hand?"

"Ouch…"

"Since you're so open," Shigure poked a few places on Honoka's body, "I can see all of your vital spots…clearly."

"Ouch!"

"When holding a…sword, stand so that your opponent can only see your…side. And no matter…what, don't expose your…neck. Because if you are struck…there, it's game…over."

"Opponent only see the side," Honoka repeated, readjusting her body accordingly, "don't expose your neck…"

"Place your unused hand on your…waist, and hold your sword in a straight…line, and hind your body behind…it…"

"Hands on the waist…sword straight…body behind the sword…got it!"

"Now, try to strike…me…"

Honoka held her position, trying to find an opening…waiting for the moment to come.

After about a minute of doing nothing, Shigure made the first strike, trying to pass Honoka's "sword".

Seeing the move, Honoka whacked the roll of paper away before charging in herself.

Seeing the assault, Shigure moved her body to dodge the strike before striking at Honoka's outstretch arm.

Thinking fast, Honoka made her arm go limp before whipping it back up toward Shigure's neck.

Surprised by the move, Shigure duck out of the way swung her "sword" upward.

Honoka quickly leaned back before using the roll of newspaper to block the attack.

The two pause for a moment before Shigure motion to stop.

"Well…done," Shigure smiled while Honoka gave a sigh of relief and everyone else blinked at the display, "Are you sure you're a beginner…Honoka?"

"Yep!" Honoka replied, before looking at her "sword" doubtfully, "but apparently I still have a long way to go before I can start using actual weapons…"

* * *

Blinking again, Kenichi cleared his voice.

"Ahem," Kenichi began, "uh, Honoka, where did you learn a move like that?"

"Huh? What move?"

"Well," Kensei smirked, "he was talking about how you almost got Shigure in a corner…"

"Oh! You mean when my arm went limp?"

"Uh, yeah?" Akisame mused, cupping his chin in curiosity, "that was a very unusual technique you did there…"

"APA," Apachai voiced in agreement, "Apachai thought your hand turn into an upside-down cobra!"

Honoka laughed as she scratched her head in embarrassment.

"Oh it's just a trick my childhood friend came up with for countering attacks to outstretch arms! Nothing fancy…"

"Childhood friend?" Miu hummed in thought.

"Yeah…but I don't know if she knows martial arts or not though…"

"But," Sasaki smirked, "it was helpful enough not get you losing so easily. Not bad…"

Honoka blinked. "Uh…thanks…"

"In fact," Sasaki continued turning away, "when you're done, lets see how you'll fair in Karate, shall we?"

Blinking again, Honoka smiled. "O-Okay! I will!"

"What's this?" Akisame smirked, "I thought you said you wouldn't train another disciple…"

"Idiot," Sasaki snorted, "she's Kenichi little sister! To me, they're almost like the same person…"

"Hmm," Kensei hummed, "I could…vaguely…see the logic behind that…"

The Elder began to laugh. "How interesting, maybe I'll pitch in for real this time too…"

"WHAT!" Everyone exclaimed.

"Just kidding…"

Everyone performed an anime fall.

"Jokes aside, I think it is time to…slowly…begin training for combat with weapons using only bare fist…"

"I…agree," Shigure mumbled as she picked up her katana.

"Huh?" Honoka voiced, suddenly a bit worry, "you mean people can fight weapons with their bare fist?"

"Of course," Sasaki grunted, "why do you think Karate was started?"

"APA!" Apachai cheered, "Muay Thai was made to fight against nasty bad guys with weapons! So it's okay…"

"Really? I didn't know that!" Honoka exclaimed, before noticing Shigure readying her sword, "Wait a minute…I don't think I'm ready for this! I don't know much moves still!"

"Honoka-chan," the Elder spoke up again, suddenly serious, "what is the most important in martial arts?"

"Huh? Um…strength? No, it's got to be skills…"

"NO!" the Elder suddenly roared, "IT'S COURAGE!"

Honoka blinked as the Elder continued. "If you don't have courage, you can't focus on your opponent's opening! Without courage, your strength will whittle, and without strength, you can't use your skills! That is the real point for anyone who takes lessons from Shigure, the Maiden Prodigy of the Weapons and Swords! To build up COURAGE!"

Honoka blinked for a moment, considering the Elder's words, before narrowing her eyes slyly.

"I thought," Honoka sneered, "you said that you weren't going to pitch in…"

"…Uh," the Elder sweat dropped as everyone waited for his explanation, "I'm…only giving you some wisdom! It's not what you think…"

"Sure it isn't," Sasaki smirked, "you're a horrible liar, old man…"

"…Takes one to know one…"

"WHAT?"

"Anyways," Honoka interrupted, "if this really is training for courage, how do I know when I have enough?"

"Oh," the Elder laughed, "You'll see! Shigure, please begin and try to put her in near death situation every now and then…"

"Wait…what?"

"Okay," Shigure mumbled, ready to pounce, "Prepare yourself…Honoka…"

Honoka blinked for a moment before turning to her big brother. "…Should I take that as her meaning 'Honoka run! I can't stop myself anymore!'?"

"Oh yeah," Kenichi nodded in panic, "you should be doing it now…"

"Hey, I just got a great idea," Akisame smirked, before booting Kenichi beside his little sister, "Kenichi can use more courage, so why not kill two birds with one stone?"

"Wait…WHAT?"

"Here I…come," Shigure then leapt towards them.

* * *

Outside, if anyone was passing by the great door of Ryozanpaku at this time, they can faintly hear the sound of moving winds, chopping woods…and the collective scream of the Shirahama sibling.

* * *

I hope you had enjoyed this chapter. Please review my story.


	5. Chapter 5

**Ryozanpaku Second Disciple**

* * *

Disclaimer: **Normama does NOT own Kenichi: History's Mightiest Disciple, but he DOES own the various OC that APPEARS in the CHAPTERS!**

Normama: Don't worry, my faithful readers, Sasaki isn't mad. That's just the way he is…

* * *

"…And that, children," Ms. Akashi summed as she put away her materials, "is the fundamentals of how to keep your house spotless every day…"

The bell rang signaling the end of the school for the day.

"Well," Ms. Akashi sighed, "it seems we've ran out of time for today. Everyone remember to get a good rest over the weekends, clear?"

"Clear!" the student cheered.

"Alright then…class dismiss…"

Everyone began to pack up in a hurry, but none as hurrying as Honoka who was already nearly out of the door.

"Honoka, wait a moment, would you?" Saki called as she and Naoki rushed to get their stuff packed.

"Sorry guys!" Honoka called back, "I'm EXTREMELY busy and I need to get going!"

Without another word, she had fled out of the classroom, but it was only moments later when everyone heard a huge crash and yelps, one which distinctively belong to Honoka.

"H-Honoka!" Naoki and Saki panicked as they rushed to the door to see what had happen.

They found Honoka nursing her wound on the ground and a tall middle-age breaded man with glasses wearing a business suit shaking cobwebs from his head.

"Uh oh," Naoki whispered in worry, "Honoka-chan crashed into the school dean!"

"S-Sorry, Principal Koichi," Honoka murmured an apology, "it's just…well…"

Principal Koichi shook his head in dismay as he got up.

"Honoka Shirahama wasn't it?" He spoke.

"Y-Yes…"

"Can you repeat to me what the rule of this school is, specifically the one about the hall?"

Honoka scratch the back of her head in shame. "…'Do not run in the hall, or it's detention and a phone call'…"

The Principal began tapping his foot. "…I see that you are fully aware of the rules in the school, so now the question is why did you still ran?"

"Well, you see I promise my martial arts masters that I'll run some errands for them and be back in time for training…and when I said that, they took it literally before I could take it back so…"

Principal Koichi raised an eyebrow. "…Am I supposed to believe that?"

"…It's the truth…"

Principal Koichi glared at Honoka for a moment, before sighing. "Since you've been a well-behave student, I give you the privilege of getting off JUST this once! Don't let it happen again, do I make myself clear?"

Honoka nodded.

"Very well," Principal Koichi step aside, "get going now, your 'masters' are waiting…"

"Thank you, Principal Koichi," Honoka bowed before speed walking to the school entrance then speeding off.

"That child," Principal Koichi chuckled, shaking his head, before noticing Naoki and Saki walking up, "ah, you two are friends of Ms. Shirahama, aren't you?"

"Y-Yes Principal Koichi," Naoki mumbled.

"Do you have any idea exactly what Ms. Shirahama is ACTUALLY been doing?"

"Not a clue really, sir," Saki responded, "all we know is that she's taking martial arts lessons now; we don't who is teaching her nor where is it being done…"

"I see," the Principal hummed in thought, "well, hopefully she won't let it interfere with her studies…"

With that, he wandered off.

"I guess almost everyone who knew Honoka-chan is starting to worry," Naoki guessed, "I mean Honoka-chan has always been obedient to the school rules, helps the teacher after class, and generally a energetic. But since this whole 'martial arts training' been happening, we've been seeing a lot less of that…"

"Yeah," Saki huffed, before her cell-phone began to ring, "which is why WE are going to find out what kind of training Honoka has been up to…"

"Huh?" Naoki pondered as she watch Saki talk over the phone.

* * *

"Are you sure this is the right way, Ryuu-kun," Saki as they walked along an unfamiliar path.

"I'm fairly sure," Ryuu replied.

"Fairly sure? Isn't that just another way of saying 'I'm not sure'…?"

"Well, sorry, but it was a second-handed information…"

"From who?" Naoki asked.

"Uh…someone from my past…"

"…You mean a bully?" Saki guessed.

"NO! A pal I met when my dad try catering as a job…"

"…Your dad tried to-…" Naoki began but stopped herself just before she got any further, "Oh, sorry! I forgot that you don't like to talk about your family finical problems…"

"…It's okay," Ryuu mumbled before brightening, "anyway, he's been keeping tabs on Honoka-chan's whereabouts since school ended, and he told me he'll met us at the location…"

"Wait hold on," Saki suddenly interrupted, "how could he have kept tabs on Honoka? She left faster than everyone else at school!"

"That's because he does go to school like us…"

"Huh? Why?" Naoki wondered.

"You'll see, assuming he hadn't change at all since we met back then…"

After a couple of minutes more of walking, they finally reach their destination…a dead-end alley.

"Oh, this is just great!" Saki sarcastically cheered, "we've finally reach where Honoka disappear off to…a dead-end! Anyone else find this funny?"

"Yeah," Naoki replied nervously, scanning the alley with worry, "I don't like this place…"

"…Okay, Takao-kun," Ryuu called out, "enough games, where are you?"

"…Right here," a digital voiced rang out from a nearby trashcan, causing the three to jump in surprise.

"Uh," Saki voiced in disgust, "don't tell me he's hiding…in a trashcan!"

Without warning, the lid of the trashcan pop open and a mini-TV set raised out. The screen flicker for a moment before a boy with spiky silver hair and high-tech goggles appeared.

"Well," he chuckled, "your half right on the subject…"

"W-Who is he?" Naoki asked in fear, hiding behind Ryuu.

"I'll be honor to introduce myself when we ACTUALLY meet…follow the trashcan to the REAL destination…"

With that, the TV set blank and retreat back into the trashcan. Tires appeared out from under the can and start moving pass the three, whom after staring at each other followed the trashcan.

* * *

Takao Takeo (meaning "Respectful hero warrior") whistle to himself as he awaits the arrival of his "toy", most likely bring his old friend as well.

Sure enough, in a few moments, the trashcan arrives along with Ryuu and two girls.

"Ryuu-kun! Old buddy, old pal," he called as he gave Ryuu a friendly hug.

"Uh…yeah," Ryuu replied, looking rather uncomfortable, "I didn't know we were in the hugging agreement…"

Takao laughed. "The same old Ryuu; you hadn't changed a bit. I say, though, I was shock to one day suddenly receive a phone call from YOU, and it shock me even MORE that you ask me to 'track down' a girl! To be honest, I though it was a joke, but then I remember you were never good with jokes…"

"Yeah…about that…I just want to make one thing clear: I'm not stalking! The girl you I had you track down is a friend, she up to something, and the people who care enough wanted to know if she's doing okay or not. It's nothing more…"

"Sure, sure, I got it," Takao chuckled before turning his attention to the two girls, anxiously watching the two boys, "So who are these chicks? Your REAL girlfriends?"

"WHAT?" Saki growled as Naoki simply yelped in surprise.

"Uh, no," Ryuu rushed to say, "yes, they're girls; yes, they're friends; but they're not my girlfriends! WE are all friends of the girl you were tracking…"

"Oh~! I see," Takao hummed as he check out the two from top to bottom, "Well, it's a pleasure to met the two of you; any friend of Ryuu is a friend of mine…"

"You two," Ryuu decided to introduce the two side, "this is Takao Takeo; he's the heir to rich family and has a hobby of "recycling"…"

"I-I see," Saki noted as she glance at the garbage can.

"Takao, this is Saki Suzume and Naoki Atsuko. Saki is the one with the feathers and the long red hair; Naoki is the one with blonde hair and the mouth mask…"

"Hello," Saki greeted and Naoki bowed.

"How do you do?" Takao smirked before turning to Ryuu, "so, are you ready to get this party moving? Right this way…"

Turning on heel, Takao went ahead as Saki walked over to Ryuu.

"I don't know why," Saki whispered, "but there's something about him that gives me the creeps…"

"You're not the only one…" Ryuu replied with a sweat drop.

* * *

Naoki, Saki, and Ryuu followed Takao for about several minute while getting acquainted with Ryuu's weirdo friend.

Takao Takeo was indeed the heir of the Takeo Family, who runs a millionaire business in the car industry. His family, namely his parents, had wanted to continue their legacy but Takao had a different goal in mind.

Ever since he was young, he was fascinated with two things: junks and putting things together. He would see some things that other wouldn't want and collect them. He would buy every puzzle games and put them together. Then, out of the blue, he thought, "I have two hobbies, why not make them one?"

Ever since, he had not only collected junks but had been putting them together. From this, he had made "Junk Arts", that surprisingly got him a few millions, and unique inventions no one else would dare make; from a trashcan that does the four R's (**R**euses, **R**educes, **R**ecycle, and **R**ot) to an all-purpose all-terrain vehicle.

However, those who weren't interested in his hobby were applauded by it; even his family had found most of his product disturbing.

Not many could blame them though, Takao had made other things that would get even those interest running in fear; from a robotic maid made out of pigskin, plastic skeleton, and parts you'll find in bathrooms and warehouses (there were rumors that Takao and "The Maid" may actually HAVE a building relationship) to a mechanize dog-crocodile hybrid made from combining a toilet, parts of an oven, and a chainsaw!

Though none of these "toys" pose any intentional threat, people had chose to be "safe than sorry" and avoided Takao altogether. This, in turn, left Takao alone for the bulk of his early life, having nothing to company him except his "toys". He become cold towards other and some would even call him insane.

But that all change when Ryuu and dad dropped in to do some catering. Ryuu, on that particular day, had decided to help his dad with the work. It was on the same day that the two met, Ryuu having to explored Takeo mansion and Takao having trying to chase after one of his "mischievous" runaway invention.

Being in a position that leaves him to understand even the most desperate of things, Ryuu had commented on Takao's skills and invention, turning the two into fast friends. Yeah, it's an odd friendship.

"…Ever since," Takao smirked, "I've consider Ryuu a man among man of a friend, so I was happy to help him whenever I got a chance…"

"I see," Naoki smiled, as she patted the trashcan, "now look at it again, I suppose it is kind of cool…"

"Uh…Naoki-chan," Saki sweat dropped, "You don't know where that 'toy' has been…"

"Oh don't worry," Takao grinned, "I personally clean my toys everyday…"

"Uh…okay?"

"So Takao-kun," Ryuu coughed, "how much further before we get to where Honoka is?"

"…We're here," Takao suddenly stopped, causing the other to anime trip.

"Uh, a LITTLE warning per-**wow**!" Saki stopped as she and the others stared at what appears to be a large traditional wooden gate. Above the gate was a sign with the Japanese word for "Ryozanpaku" on top.

"H-Have we travel back in time?" Naoki asked nervously.

Takao laughed. "Ha, that was my first reaction too when I first saw this! But it's more like this place has been cut off from time itself if you ask me…"

"This is where Honoka goes off to?" Saki awed doubtfully, "there's no way…"

"Well," Ryuu coughed, "there's only one way to find out…"

Ryuu went up to the large wooden door and try to push it open, but no matter how hard he tried the door remain station.

"What the?" Ryuu wondered as he continues to push, "It won't budge!"

"Move, let me do this," Saki jumped in and began pushing, but while the door creaked a bit it didn't budge, "Damn it's heavy!"

"Allow me!" Takao offered as he typed in something on his modify watch. Out of nowhere a gorilla-like robot that looks as if it was made from an old car and several body-building equipments stomp up to them. "Or rather, allow my friend here to assist…"

"Whoa!" Saki yelped as she and Ryuu quickly moved out of the way to let the robot through, "Are you sure that thing isn't dangerous?"

"They are NOT dangerous! And they won't do anything unless I give the okay…"

"I think it's kind of cute," Naoki noted, receiving some startled looks from the other three, "really, I mean it!"

"Oh~!" Takao whistled as he turns to Ryuu, "I LIKE this girl!"

Ryuu grumbled as the four watch the robot push the on the door with all its might, but even it couldn't successfully opening the door slightly.

"Wow, this is a sight," Takao noted, checking his watch, "according to this, it's using its full power, which is equivalent to ten people, and the door did not budge…"

"Then there's no way Honoka could get in!" Saki exclaimed.

"But she did, I saw the girl going in there myself…"

"How do I know you aren't making this whole thing up!"

"HEY, watch it…I'll admit that you have the right to call me weirdo, but NOT liar…"

"Calm down everyone," Ryuu interrupted, getting in-between the two, "let's focus on getting in first…"

"…Why don't we try knocking?" Naoki suggested as she knocked on the door as hard as she could.

"Uh, Naoki-chan," Saki sweat dropped, "there's no way that would work…"

But before she could continue, the door swung slightly open as young woman dress in a short traditional pink kimono poke her expressionless face out.

"…Or it could…" Saki sweat dropped even more.

"Um…h-hello miss," Naoki nervously greeted, getting even more nervous as the lady's dull eyes stared at her, "w-we're friends of H-Honoka-chan and w-we wish to see h-her…"

The lady stared at her for a moment before glancing at the other three, never changing her expression. Finally, after a tense uncomfortable minute, the lady opened the door wider.

"Honoka," she began, "just went out…shopping. But you can come inside and…wait…"

"O-Oh, t-thank you," Naoki bowed, motioning the others to that it's a-okay.

Ryuu began to follow, only to stop when Saki nudge him.

"What's up?" Ryuu whispered.

"Let's be careful," Saki whispered back, eying the lady, "there's something about her that gives me the creeps…"

Ryuu and Takao simply nodded.

* * *

The four walk through the gate following the mysterious lady. But it was only now that they noticed another distinctive feature about her: a katana on her back.

"W-Why does she have a sword with her?" Naoki whispered to Saki.

"How am I supposed to know?" Saki whispered back.

"Huh," Takao hummed loudly, causing his friends to jump, "aside from that building over there, everything else around here seems to have been made back in the feudal era…"

Though steaming from the sudden comment, they couldn't help but agree with Takao. Everywhere they looked, "old-fashion" was written almost everywhere. There were two buildings that look as if they had moved to here from Osaka, there was a giant tree that looks strangely like a bonsai, and strangely a forest in place of a back wall.

"What a weird place," Saki noted, before noticing that their guide was gone, "hey, where did she go?"

"…Uh," Takao began, having to be the first to register what Saki stated, "That's a good question…"

"Uh, Miss!" Naoki called out, still walking forward while she and the other glanced around, "Where did you go?"

Just then, Naoki bumped into something. Turning skyward, Naoki found herself staring at a tall, muscular, foreign tan man with light turquoise hair, a red headband, a yellow shirt, and orange shorts with bandages around his hands and risk.

"APA!" the man voiced childishly, catching everyone's attention, "I'm Apachai!"

Blink…Blink…Blink…

"…AAH!" the four screamed in fear and/or surprise as they all bolted towards the door, leaving the confused foreign man.

"Who the HECK is he?" Saki exclaimed as she, Naoki, and Takao glanced back to see if the man was following them.

"Well, how am I supposed to KNOW?" Takao joked, despite the situation.

"GAAH!" Ryuu sounded, being the only one to look ahead, as he started to slide to a stop, "Twelve 'O Clock, everyone!"

Hearing Ryuu, everyone turn only to find themselves sliding to a halt as well. The woman they had met earlier was now in their way…standing upside-down from the top door frame.

"You're going the wrong…way," the woman mumbled, as she pointed behind them, "It's that…way…"

"AAH!" the four children screamed in surprise and bolted in all direction.

* * *

Takao had found himself hiding behind a large wooden poll with several bandages wrapped around it, puffing his head off.

"Crap," Takao huffed in worried, "I've led Ryuu-kun and his two friends to a very dangerous place, then I ditch them to suffer; some friend I'd turn out to be! I got to find them before…"

Just then, a growl from behind the poll startled Takao as he dared a peek to see the source.

What he saw was a tall, well-muscular Japanese man with a long scar running horizontally across the bridge of his nose of his nose wearing a leather jacket, blue jeans, and bandages wrapped around his large muscular forearm. Also, a deep aura of energy seems to be emitting from him as he "charged" up.

"W-What…?" Takao whispered as he watch the man's eyes suddenly glowed like headlights of a car before he smashed some polls nearby into pieces with his two fist, "…HOLY…!"

The man suddenly turn towards the final poll left standing…the poll that Takao was hiding behind…as he made his way over to it.

Takao instinctively hid out of sight again as his acute ears could hear the man's heavy footsteps draw closer and closer until finally…

"Take THIS!" the man roared, "Motionless Sand Cloud Bomb!"

With that, the man punched the poll. At first nothing happen but in mere moments the other side of the poll burst open, sending the poor and unfortunate Takao screaming and flying towards the wall.

"Oh shoot!" the man exclaimed as he watch dumbfounded as Takao hit the wall and fell unconscious to the ground, "There was a KID behind it! Miu is going to KILL me!"

* * *

"…Ryuu-kun, Naoki-chan!" Saki quietly called as she walk down what appears to be long corridor of the supposed main building, "Where are you two!"

No response came from either of the two, sinking Saki's nerves.

"Ugh," Saki suddenly shook her head, regaining her composure, "Calm down, Saki, the others MUST be okay! Ryuu-kun is pretty tough and Naoki-chan had always been an excellent hider; I don't know about that Takao, but I bet he's smart enough to stay out of trouble. Right now I shouldn't be panicking; I got to stay strong and find the others…"

A gust of wind behind her stopped her cold as she quickly turns to try to find the cause. More gusts of wind appeared hither and thither, causing Saki to continue to turn in circles.

"What's going on?" Saki asked, losing her nerve bit by bit with every turn.

Suddenly, a short middle-age mustache man wearing a green typical Chinese martial arts clothing and a black hat appeared behind Saki and grabbed her still-in-developing chest.

"My~," the man grinned, "for a child in her early teen, THIS part of you sure got develop pretty well~!"

Saki did nothing, as if her mind had totally went blank, causing the man to get nervously worry.

"H-Hey," the man fumbled, "aren't you going to react? Are you-…"

"**GRR**," Saki suddenly growled as she savagely bit down on the man's right hand.

"YOW!" the man cried, as he struggles to remove the craze-stricken girl from his hand, "Cannibal!"

* * *

One way or another, Naoki and Ryuu ended up bumping into each other as they both desperately try to find a place to hide. Now, they have chosen to enter a room to hide out until the situation calm down.

"Ryuu-kun," Naoki began, breathing heavily, "I could have swear that I heard someone yelling 'cannibal'…"

"And I could have swore that I heard Takao screaming," Ryuu added, before noticing Naoki's condition, "Hey, Naoki-san, are you alright?"

"Yeah," Naoki weakly managed, "it's just that my body is still fairly weak…"

"Oh, yeah! You were always excused from physical training…"

"That's hardly the issue right now, Ryuu-kun. Anyway, what are we going to do?"

"I don't know…"

Just then, the two heard several tapping noises and quickly turn to the source.

They found that they were staring at the back of a man dress in a nearly oversize jujitsu shirt with dark blue nagabakama working on what appears to be a sculpture. A Buddha sculpture, no less, considering the number of other Buddha statues stacked all around the room.

"Who…Who do you suppose he is?" Naoki asked nervously.

"Who knows," Ryuu blinked as the man suddenly stopped hammering and turn around.

Once turn, they notice that the man had a small mustache and glowing narrow eyes.

"Huh?" he sounded, freezing the two teens in fright, "Oh hello there…"

"Uh," Ryuu managed, "Hi?"

The man straighten himself up before he walked up to the two, his eyes stopped glowing in the process.

"What, may I ask," the man continued, "are you doing crouching in here? Didn't you read the sign outside that states 'Entrance is Forbidden'?"

"Uh," Ryuu managed, "not exactly. You see, we were in a panic and…"

Before he can continue to explain, Naoki collapsed onto the floor unconscious, surprising the two.

"N-Naoki-san?" Ryuu exclaimed as he turn her over to find that her pupil had rolled behind her eyelids, "Oh no! Did you get a seizure from the fright? Naoki-san!"

"Oh dear," the man muttered, staring at Naoki with curiosity and worry, _'This child…'_

* * *

"Thanks for coming along, Honoka," Miu smiled as she walked ahead of the two Shirahama sibling, "Your brother Kenichi had been putting on more and more work ever since the masters of Ryozanpaku had been increasing their demands for food; I don't know if he could've manage without you helping out…"

"…Ugh," Honoka moaned carrying a large sack of grocery on her back and dragging several iron chain balls by her feet, "I believe you…!"

"Honestly," Kenichi huffed, being in the same position as his little sister, "what are the Masters thinking? Do they really expect us to be doing their errands AND doing the training EVERY time we go out?"

"Well," Miu smiled, "Look on the bright side, Kenichi…"

"What's the bright side?"

"…By making you work as hard as Honoka, that just means they aren't abandoning you for a fresher student…"

"…Uh, Miu, I'm confused. Which part of that was supposed to make me FEEL better?"

Miu just laughed as they approach the gates of Ryozanpaku.

"I swear," Honoka sighed as she and Kenichi slowly pushed one of the doors open, "this door keeps getting heavier every time we try opening it…"

"I'll say," Kenichi huffed.

"There's a technique to it, really!" Miu hummed, pushing the other door open with ease.

"Sure there is," Honoka groaned before noticing Kenichi confused expression, "What's wrong, Brother?"

"…Something's wrong," Kenichi noted as he scan the area, "normally, you can hear, the slight tapping of ceiling panel when Shigure is walking on the roof, or hear Sasaki smashing some poor wooden pose, or even see Apachai running towards us right now asking what kind of sweets we've bought. But today…nothing…"

Miu scan the area before nodding. "You're right Kenichi; something is DEFINITELY wrong…"

"Well," Honoka huffed as she set the large bag of grocery down gently, "let's go find out…"

* * *

The three slowly and cautiously walked on; the silence within Ryozanpaku was eerily disturbing. Eventually they made it to the Main Building where the find, as they open the door…

"Hello there," a boy with spiky silver hair and high-tech goggles greeted them, covered from head to toe with bandages.

"WAAH!" Miu, Kenichi, and Honoka exclaimed in surprise, "Frankenstein!"

"Uh, no…first off I'm not tall or large and second I'm still alive, but injured…"

"Oh," Miu sighed in relief, "sorry about that! But…how did you get injured?"

"You can ask him," the boy pointed to Sasaki, who has his backs turn and humming nervously to himself.

"SASAKI!" Miu exclaimed, causing the Karate Master to flinch in fear, "What did you DO to this boy? Did you ACCIDENTALY smash his body SO badly that Akisame had to turn him into a cyborg?"

"What the?" Sasaki turn to Miu in disbelief, "I did NOT!"

"Then what do you call those goggles?" Miu pointed at the boy's high-tech goggles.

"Uh, miss," the boy chuckled, "I hate to break it to you, but I ALREADY had these before getting injured…and they're not replacing my eyes…"

"Huh? Really?"

"Yeah," the boy muttered, before catching sight of Honoka, "ah, you're Honoka Shirahama…"

"Huh?" Honoka jumped at being identified, despite never encountering the boy before, "Uh, yeah I am, who are you…?"

"Takao Takeo," the boy bowed, only to real up in pain, "Ouch! My back still hurts…shouldn't had done that…anyway, I'm a friend of Ryuu Michio…"

"Oh, you're a friend of Ryuu-senpai?"

"Sure am," Takao beamed as a girl with long red hair, held back by a black ribbon with cartoon sun face design all over it, a pair of earring in the shape of tiny birds, and three feathers tuck behind her right ear came into the room and, upon seeing Honoka, rushed towards her.

"Honoka!" the girl exclaimed, catching the mention's attention.

"S-Saki-chan?" Honoka managed before she found herself tackled down by the redhead.

"Where in HECK were you?" Saki demanded as she grind Honoka's head, "did you have any IDEA how worry I was about YOU!"

"Uh," Kenichi sweat dropped as he watch Honoka tried desperately to break free from the headlock Saki was giving her.

"Oh," Miu mused, "So this is girly friendship!"

"Uh, no Miu; this is NOT girly friendship…"

"I'll say," Kensei mumbled as he entered, catching the two's attention, "that girl is a feisty one…"

"Uh, Master Kensei," Kenichi awed as he pointed at the Kenpo Master's wrapped arm and shredded clothes, "what happen to you?"

"Oh…this? Well, you see…um…"

"Don't tell me," Honoka, who finally managed to break free from the headlock, huffed after seeing the damage, "you approached her the WRONG way, right?"

"Uh," Kensei scratched the back of his head with his "less injured" hand, "kind of…"

"Ugh, I feel sorry for you, Master Kensei," Honoka sighed, "you had no idea who you were messing with. Saki-chan had once tackled a lion and won despite being eight years old at the time…"

"WHAT?" Everyone in the room exclaimed.

"Honoka!" Saki lectured, "I had NOT wrestle against a lion!"

"Huh?" Honoka dumbly sounded, "but you said…"

"You keep forgetting; it was five-year-old Siberian Tiger! How can you get them mix up?"

"Oh, right!" Honoka thumped her palm as everyone else sweat drop.

"She wrestles with a tiger…?" Kenichi muttered.

"A five-year-old Siberian Tiger…?" Miu continued.

"At the age of eight?" Kensei finished with the largest of sweat drop.

"Damn!" Sasaki muttered, "She got more guts than I did at her age…"

"Speaking of which," Honoka pondered, turning to Saki, "why are you here anyway, Saki-chan?"

"Why do you think?" Saki rolled her eyes, "ever since you've been learning martial arts, your behavior is beginning to change…"

"…It…had?"

"Duh, that's why Ryuu asked this guy here," Saki pointed to Takao, "to find out where you went off to! And lo and behold, we found this dojo…"

"We?"

"Yeah, Naoki-chan and Ryuu-kun are here too…assuming that the residents hadn't done anything to them yet that is…"

"You mean there are other kids here!" Miu joyfully exclaimed, before turning her glaring and dangerous eyes towards the two presence masters, "I hope for ALL of your sake they had better be alright…"

"Y-Yeah," Kensei nervously agreed as he and Sasaki scooted back in fear.

"I-I'm pretty sure they're just fine," Sasaki added anxiously.

"I'm afraid it won't be so," the Elder noted, surprising everyone.

"Whoa!" Takao exclaimed, "Who's THIS giant?"

"Oh," Honoka chuckled, "that's just the Elder, Big Boobs' grandpa…"

"Big Boobs?" Saki questioned, before looking from Honoka to Miu, "Oh~! That 'Big Boobs'…"

"What do mean, Elder?" Kenichi asked the old martial artist.

"Well," the Elder began with a grim expression, "I'm not sure on the details, but I heard form Akisame that he's currently performing an operation on a girl that had collapse in front of him…"

Honoka and Saki immediately knew who the Elder was talking about.

"Naoki-chan!" they exclaimed in worry as they both race off.

* * *

"APA," Apachai hummed in worry as place his ears on the door of Akisame's surgery room, "Apachai wonder if the little girl will be okay?"

"Don't…worry," Shigure mumbled as she crouched by a boy with comb-downed gray hair wearing oversize standard school uniform, "Akisame will be able to help…her."

"Are you sure?" the boy asked, dejected and depress, as he sat there with worried eyes.

Shigure nodded as she stared curiously at the silent child.

That was when Honoka and Saki skidded to a halt right in front of the three.

"Ryuu-senpai!" Honoka exclaimed, "You're here too?"

"Honoka-chan," the boy gasped in surprise.

"Ryuu-kun," Saki interrupted, "how's Naoki-chan?"

Hearing the name, Ryuu's expression dipped again as he shook his head.

"I hadn't heard anything since the mustache guy took her," Ryuu explained.

"Oh," Saki saddens as everyone else arrived at the scene.

"Don't worry, you all," Sasaki, who had just arrive with the others, voiced, catching everyone attention, "Akisame is the best among the best; he succeeds when other's fail. This Naoki is in good hands…"

"Really?" Saki, Ryuu, and Takao asked eagerly.

"Trust me, it's true," Kenichi chuckled nervously, "with these people, even the dead can be revive…"

"…Huh?"

"Brother," Honoka mumbled, nudging her brother's side hard, "don't freak them out!"

"Oh, right! Sorry…" Kenichi scratch the back of his head nervously as Saki stared at him suspiciously.

Suddenly, the door to Akisame's surgery room opened as the owner stepped out, wiping his hands and forehead clean with a towel.

"Phew," Akisame huffed before noticing the crowd, "My, I don't recall the little girl having this many worry visitors…"

"Quit joking around, Master Akisame!" Kenichi comically lectured, "How is the kid already?"

"Oh, you mean the patient? She's fine now…"

"REALLY?" Honoka, Saki, Ryuu, and Takao exclaimed only to have Akisame hurryingly hush them.

"Not so loud," Akisame whispered, stepping aside to show a girl with golden hair flowing freely, a few was braided in two pigtails both tied at the end with red ribbons, and wore a mouth mask laying on the bed, apparently sleeping.

The middle school kids rushed to the bedside, as if to personally check if Naoki was really alright.

"She doesn't look any different," Ryuu noted.

"Oh but I can assure you she's all better now," Akisame reassured, "in fact, she should be even better than before…"

"Huh?" Honoka wondered, "What do you mean?"

"…I presume that she has been sick most of her life?"

"Uh…yeah," Saki nodded before widening her eyes in shock, "wait a minute, how did you know that?"

"Because I'm a professional…"

"Uh, okay?"

"As it turns out, the cause of her rare illness is because of her rib cage and her already weaken immune system…"

"…R-Rib Cage?" Ryuu pondered.

"You see," Akisame continued as he pulled out a diagram of human anatomy, "her rib cage was surprising not growing properly. They began to expand inward, toward her sensitive organs which they ironically suppose to protect. Thus, her heart, lungs, and even her stomach couldn't function properly, giving her body less air and energy than she needs but just enough for her to live. Throwing in the fact that her immune system wasn't strong and the result is her condition. This is a very extremely rare case; most people only had less than 1% chance of being in kind of condition. So it comes to no surprise that the average doctors and physician in the world didn't detect it…"

"Then how could you spot it?" Takao asked as he scans the room, "to be able to see something like that, you need an x-ray at least, but apparently you don't have one. So how…"

"Like I said child," Akisame smiled proudly, "I'm a professional…"

"…Okay?"

"Now that you mention it," Honoka noted as she stared at Naoki's face, "she seems to have more color in her skin now than before…"

Just then, with a groan, Naoki snapped her eyes open sat up with a gasp, narrowly missing Honoka's head.

"Yikes!" Naoki gasped, "Where am I? What's going on?"

"Naoki-chan!" Honoka yelped in joy as she embraces her blond hair friend, "You're awake!"

"H-Honoka-chan?" Naoki blinked before noticing her other friends, "Saki-san, Ryuu-kun, Takao-san! You're all alright!"

"Well," Takao smirked, flexing his bandage arm, "not exactly, but I'm overall alright…"

Naoki giggled before remembering something. "Uh, Ryuu-kun, whatever happened to that glowing eye devil?"

"Uh…" Ryuu sweat dropped as he glances over to Akisame.

"…Glowing eye-what?" Akisame frowned with a sweat drop.

"Ha," Sasaki laughed out loud, "Glowing eye devil, that's a good one…"

"It kind of suits him," Kenichi nervously chuckled to himself.

* * *

"Huh?" Naoki sweat dropped, noticing the crowd of unfamiliar people (some of which she had already met but still did not know), "W-Who are these people?"

"Now that you mention it," Saki thumped her palm before turning to Honoka, "Honoka, who the HELL are these people?"

"Uh, yeah," Honoka sweat dropped, "I guess I should do some introduction. Alright, the one with the same hair style as me is my older brother, Kenichi Shirahama…"

Kenichi smile as he gave the young teens a wave.

"…the blond Big Boobs is brother's friend and fellow classmate Miu Furinji…"

"…Big Boobs?" Miu questioned in confusion.

"…next in line is the one with the scar across his face, Sasaki Shio…"

Sasaki grunted as he leaned on the entrance.

"…that tall man with the childish face is my friend Apachai Hopachai…"

"APA," Apachai cheered, "Yo, I'm Apachai!"

"…The one with the sword is another one of my friends at this here place Shigure Kousaka…"

"Technically," Shigure mumbled, "it's a…katana…"

"…the one covered in bruises after approaching Saki the wrong way is Kensei Ma…"

Kensei nervously chuckled to himself as Saki glared at him.

"…the one that Naoki called 'glowing eye devil' is Akisame Koetsuji…"

"Ahem," Akisame cleared his voice in embarrassment.

"…And finally, the giant old guy is Miu's grandfather and also the head of this dojo, Hayato Furinji."

"Oh, ho, ho, ho," the Elder chuckled as he stroke his long beard, "welcome young ones to Ryozanpaku, even though your first impression wasn't as good as I hoped it would had been…"

"Yeah~," Miu lowly mumbled as she glared over at Apachai, Sasaki, Kensei, and Akisame who scooted away in fear, "it could have been MUCH better…"

"Hey, hey, hey," Sasaki panicked, "I didn't even knew that there were any brats here until after I sent the goggle kid into the wall!"

"That," Kensei sweat dropped, "is probably not the best argument at the moment…"

"How rude," Akisame frowned, "here I was, able to cure this child from any further weakness and you place blames on ME?"

* * *

"Speaking of which," Saki murmured as she turned back to Naoki, "How are feeling now?"

"Uh," Naoki pondered, placing her hand on her chest and slowly breathing, "Actually, I feel quite fine. In fact, I feel a lot better than usually…"

"Really?" Ryuu exclaimed as he widen his eyes in surprise.

"Yeah," Naoki mused, not really sure why herself.

"I don't believe it," Saki shook her head in disbelief as she turn to the jujitsu master, "you really did cure her…"

"Like I had said," Akisame smiled, "I'm a professional…"

"…Does that really explain anything in general?" Takao chuckled, finding the jujitsu master's excuse pathetic.

"Uh…"

* * *

"Now then, Honoka-chan," the Elder intervened, "may you please introduce these people to us?"

"Huh?" Honoka stared blankly before remembering, "Oh right! Uh, well…"

At this point, Saki raised her hand signaling to Honoka that she is willing to take over.

"I'm Saki Suzume, the class representative of Honoka's class and also one of her earliest childhood friend…"

"Oh, that's right," Kenichi thumped his palm in realization, "you're the one that Honoka mention about every now and then…"

"The one sitting on the bed is Naoki Atsuko, a recently-made friend and classmate for both me and Honoka…"

Naoki gave a small bow.

"The boy with gray comb down hair is Ryuu Michio, another recently-made friend though he's a grade above us…"

Ryuu also gave a bow.

"And that's…uh, Ryuu-kun could you do this one for me?"

Ryuu gave an amusing sigh before pointing to the boy in bandage and goggle.

"This," Ryuu began, "is a friend I made in the past, Takao Takeo. He's the heir to a millionaire family and a master of collecting, creating, or both…"

* * *

"…A-A heir," Miu sweat dropped nervously, "to a rich family?"

"Yep," Takao chuckled.

"AAAHH! Sasaki, look what you've DONE! Ryozanpaku is at the brink of bankruptcy without you making our situation worse!"

"Uh," Sasaki nervously scratch the back of his head, "Well, I…uh…"

"Oh please~!" Takao snickered, "You don't have to worry! I won't tell my parents! So quit panicking…"

"Huh?" Miu stopped in her tracks, "but…why?"

"Please~!" Takao rolled his eyes, "Ryuu is my friend, Miss Honoka here is his friend, and you people seem to be her 'friends', which makes you all MY friends whether I like it or not. I'm not cruel enough to send diplomatic suing on my newly made 'economically troubled' friends…"

"R-Really?" Kenichi sweat dropped at what the boy had given.

"Yeah, anyway what are a few bruises between friends?"

"Uh, not that I'm not thrill that you're forgiving us so easily child," Akisame started, "but how are you going to…"

"…explain to my family about my bandage-cover body?" Takao guessed without much effort, "don't worry, this is nothing new to them…"

"Huh?" everyone who was not too familiar with Takao sounded.

"He's tell the truth," Ryuu grimly laughed as he palmed his face, "on the few occasion I've seen him, he's usually with a bandage covering his broken arms, legs, head, or in this case his entire body. He gets it from his 'hobby'…"

"O…K?" Kenichi sweat dropped.

* * *

"Well," Akisame voiced, stepping up to Naoki with a piece of paper, "putting that all aside now, you're name is Naoki right?"

"Uh, yes sir," Naoki nodded.

"Although I have been able to cure your initial problem, you still need to get your immunity system back to full health. I don't know what your medical records say, so I've list all the possible treatments you should take depending on your condition. So please give this to your parents so that help you do so. If you follow the instructions I've listed, you'll be a regular healthy kid in two to three months tops…"

With that Akisame handed the piece of paper to Naoki who, after lightly scanning the list, got off the bed bow repeatedly bowed to Akisame.

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you so much!" Naoki repeated over and over again.

"H-Hey now," Akisame tried to stop the blond girl, "You don't need to be THAT grateful!"

Everyone nervously chuckled as they watch Akisame fail to stop the still bowing and grateful girl.

None more nervously than Honoka. She has a feeling life at Ryozanpaku is going to get more hectic from now on.

* * *

...And there you have it: an introduction of a new OC and Ryozanpaku's first meeting with Honoka's friends. What do you think? Not bad? Not good? Please review and let me know. And if I'm doing something wrong, _**PLEASE**_ inform me with your reviews!


	6. Chapter 6

**Ryozanpaku Second Disciple**

* * *

Disclaimer: OH~! Look at the PRETTY Feather~!

Miu: Kensei! You Pervert! Lecher!

Kensei: Catch me if you can~! Oh, Normama doesn't own Kenichi: History's Mightiest Disciple! OH~! But I just gain possession of Miu's white panties~!

Miu: STOP~~~~! And Normama only owns the OC of the story! Kensei give that back~~~~!

* * *

"Everyone~!" Miu called from the main building, conking a metal griddle with a wooden spoon, "Dinner is ready~!"

In a flash, Apachai rushed pass Miu and position himself near the table, drooling as the rest came streaming.

"APA!" Apachai exclaimed, banging his rarely use utensil on the table, "hurry up! Hurry up! Food, food, food~!"

"Don't do that with your fork and knife, Apachai!" Miu lectured tiredly.

It has been only been half an hour since everyone of Ryozanpaku became acquainted with Honoka's friends and Akisame had finally been able to stop the once-sicken-now-cured Naoki from bowing repeatedly to him. And since it was nearly dinner time, Miu had decided to allow them to stay for dinner.

But she didn't expect Saki, Honoka's redhead friend, to join her in making the meal. She was even more surprise to discover that Saki is a natural cook, working the kitchen as if she had lived there her entire life. And the way she had prepared the dishes, with such speed, grace, and great care, Miu actually thought that she was an Iron Chef.

All in all, the food got to the table, and all those that weren't there to admire her cooking skill stare in awe at the vast amount o food that seems to have originated from the kitchen of a restaurant.

"Damn!" Sasaki was the first the first to voice his option, "Are you telling me that Saki kid help you prepare all of this?"

"Uh, actually," Miu confessed, "our role was kind of reversed in that statement…"

"WHA?" Everyone exclaimed while Honoka, Ryuu, and Naoki giggled knowingly.

"As expected of Honoka-chan and Naoki-san class representative," Ryuu, the gray-haired boy, sighed in amusement.

"Yeah," Naoki hummed, "when I first heard that Saki makes her own lunch for school, I couldn't believe that she had actually prepared a homemade spicy noodle dish. But after some time, and after a couple bites every-now-and-then, I became a believer…"

"She can pretty much make any kind of dish as long as she had a taste of it first," Honoka smirked.

"You three are giving me too much credit," Saki smiled nervously as she place the last of her fine dish on the table before taking off her apron, "I told you three, because my parents are such terrible cookers, I began to learn the fundamental of cooking as soon as I was old enough. And I can't actually cook everything with just a taste, I just do a lot of experiments at home before I actually get the dish to taste like how I had tasted…"

"That's what I meant when I said you just need one taste before being able to make it," Honoka smirked.

"Honoka!" Saki lowly growled, before slapping Apachai's hand when he attempt to snag some food causing him to quickly retract his hand on impulse, "you wait until everyone is seated before you can start digging in!"

"APA," Apachai moaned as he began to cry over in the corner, "Apachai sorry! Apachai should not have been born!"

"Hey, hey," the high tech goggle wearing Takao muttered as he try to comfort the giant Thailand man, "there's no need to be THIS depress!"

"Hey Apachai," Saki called out as everyone took their place around the table, "if you don't get over here soon the food will be gone!"

Immediately, Apachai rushed back to spot and began to gobble every food in reach.

"I don't believe," Sasaki muttered in incredulity, "you barely know us and you already know how to deal with Apachai!"

"Well," Saki muttered as she threw several shrimps behind her, causing Apachai to chase after it, giving the other people time to get the food they needed, "you see, I have a big family, full of younger siblings, cousin, nephews, and nieces, that seems to come over to party no matter what the circumstances was at the time. And most of them eat like Apachai here so after some time I develop certain technique to cope with it…"

"Really?" the Elder mused.

* * *

"Uh, Honoka," Kenichi whispered to his little sister, "just exactly who IS this friend of yours?"

"What do you mean, brother?" Honoka asked back confusingly.

"Don't you find her odd? She CLAIMS to have won against a 5-year-old Siberian Tiger; she has exceptional skills in cooking; she even claims that her family is large and eats like Apachai so she develop several means to handle such a situation! If you ask me, she is almost like a PERFECT human being!"

"Well, not exactly," Saki suddenly voiced to Kenichi, startling the two, "a perfect human being wouldn't even BE human being; they would be a god, but even then they're not perfect if you know what I mean…"

"…And now she even has sharp hearing! What's next? Would she be able to predict the future?"

"No she can't," Honoka waved her hand front of her, "and everyone has something they're good at, Saki is just good at a LOT of things that's all…"

"Are all your friends this unique, Honoka-chan?" Miu asked as she watches Kensei try to grope Naoki only to have Saki "accidentally" spill some hot tea over his hand.

"Well, I guess they are," Honoka hummed, eying her school friends, "like I already said, Saki is good at a lot of stuff; Naoki-chan can pretty much befriend anyone in a short period of time and is the best at Hide-and-Seek; Ryuu-senpai knows a lot things when it comes to business and knows a lot of people; and according to Ryuu-senpai, Takao-san is pretty talented too…"

"In a weird sort of…way," Shigure mumbled.

"That may be true," Honoka laughed, "but you and Apachai are definitely the most unique among them all…"

Shigure slightly blushed.

* * *

"Whew~!" Sasaki huffed, patting his stomach, "that was one of the best meal I had in my entire life~!"

"You said it," Kensei smirked.

"Well," Akisame began, getting up, "I think it's high pass time that we begin our daily routine. Kenichi, Honoka lets get moving…"

"Y-Yes sir," Kenichi and Honoka sounded as they follow Akisame.

All the while Saki, Naoki, and Ryuu watch their friends go. Takao, who was still busy finishing his plate, also turned a bit to watch Honoka go.

"Daily Routine?" Naoki wondered, turning to the others, "could that be the training course that Honoka-chan is undergoing and tiring her out?"

"Well," Takao voiced, wiping his mouth clean and getting up, "this is what you came here for, right? Lets go find out…"

"Hold it!" Saki halted, "why are you suddenly interested? I thought you're just going to lead us here and that was the end of it…"

"You're pretty stupid, aren't you? If that was it, I wouldn't have join you in entering this dojo…"

"What?" Saki growled, aiming to pound Takao's face in had not Naoki held her back.

"Uh," Ryuu coughed as he started off after Honoka's trail, "lets get going before we miss what we came here for, shall we?"

* * *

"Don't hold back, Kenichi!" Akisame ordered as Honoka's friends arrived on the scene, "this is for her sake as well as yours! If you have to, throw her!"

Saki, Ryuu, Naoki, and Takao watched with widen eyes; both Kenichi and Honoka are desperately trying to throw the other to the ground, swaying and grunting. It would almost appear to be a never ending battle as their eyes shimmer with the determination to win.

"You too, Honoka! Because you started later than Kenichi, he has the advantage but you too have an advantage! Kenichi is still showing doubts about throwing his little sister, use that opening to take him down! Remember, whoever loses this 2-out-of-3 throw will have to double their laps around the city tomorrow!"

Both Honoka and Kenichi struggled to topple the other, neither wanting the pleasure of running a double of what they could take. Kenichi may be stronger and more experience, but his kind heart conflicts with his urge to hurl his sister to the ground; Honoka could consider dropping her brother to the ground a simple pay back for ignoring her before she had join Ryozanpaku, but she was less experience and still not in par with Kenichi's already advance strength. The two seem to be at an endless stalemate.

"If you two take any longer in this," Akisame smirked, "the loser will have to run triple instead of the double…"

That must have done it because as soon as the words register in their mind, the two became very serious. All it took now was one of them to falter and the battle was decided.

And it was; Kenichi send Honoka to the ground with a roar.

Honoka's friends watch as she groaned in both in pain and disappointment.

"Aw man," Honoka moaned, "I almost had you!"

"Sorry, Honoka," Kenichi puffed a breather, the battle was exhausting even for him.

"Excellent," Akisame nodded, watching Kenichi help his sister back to her feet, "but both of you are still far away from actually using a proper throw in battle at this rate…"

"Sorry, Master Akisame," Honoka sighed.

"Hey, Akisame, you done?" Sasaki voiced from behind Honoka's friends, startling them, "It's my turn!"

"Really?" Akisame exclaimed, check his timer, "My, how time flies! Ok, Honoka, it's Sasaki turn for you…"

"Okay," Honoka nodded and was about to head off before at last noticing her staring friends, "whoa, you guys are still here?"

"Duh," Saki rolled her eyes, "we came here to see what kind of training you were doing, not just for a visit…"

"R-Really?" Honoka scratched the back of her head, "I don't know, you may get…well, disturb…"

"Huh?" her friends sounded, only to shiver in fright when Sasaki roared a couple feet away.

**"Hey!"** Sasaki thundered, **"What is TAKING you SO long! Hurry up, I not getting younger HERE!"**

"R-Right! I'll be right there!" Honoka called back, before turning back to her friends, "don't be afraid, Master Sasaki isn't mad; he's like that all the time…"

With that, she rushed off.

"Um," Ryuu muttered, "Ok?"

"Now Kenichi," Akisame smirked, his eyes glowing with excitement, "as the winner of that round, I'll show you a new throwing technique…come over here…"

"Eh?" Kenichi questioned, catching the spectators' attention.

A few moments later, they watch in horror as Akisame send his poor first disciple screaming into the air.

* * *

"TOO SLOW!" Sasaki lectured as he sent Honoka spinning to the ground.

"Ouch…" Honoka managed before being sent into the air again with another kick.

"If have time to complain," Sasaki shouted as he kicked her into the again as she recovered, "You have time to dodge! GET MOVING!"

"AHH~!" Honoka screamed as she hit the dirt again.

"Hold it! Hold it! Hold it!" Saki growled as she struggled to free herself from Ryuu and Naoki's grip to aim a kick at the Karate Master's head, "Stop doing that to Honoka! I'll fight you in her place!"

"C-Calm down, Saki-san!" Ryuu try to reason.

"D… Don't perform anything rash!" Naoki added.

"And don't even bother," Takao commented, leaning on a pillar where he sat, "she's doing just fine…"

"Where are your EYES looking?" Saki yelled back, "she's being kicked into the earth so many times that her face looks like a pile of mud!"

"Her face may be dirtied," Takao hummed knowingly, "but take a look at her eyes; they're clean and focus…"

Everyone stared back as Honoka hit the dirt again, but this time she didn't stay down long. She quickly rolled out of the way of Sasaki's next kick, leapt back to her feet, and took a couple of quick jab at Sasaki's abdomen, of which Sasaki narrowly dodged.

"Oh~! I see…you took the kicks on purpose to lower my guard," Sasaki smirked, repelling many of Honoka's attempts with his leg, "not bad! You got anything else kid?"

"Heh," Honoka smirked back, before aiming a sudden kick at Sasaki supporting leg, causing Sasaki to jump back, "a few…"

"Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha," Sasaki laughed, "good one! Lets see if they'll further help you…"

"See?" Takao smiled to Saki as they all watch Honoka and Sasaki continue their spare for the next sixteen minutes.

* * *

"…Like this, Master?" Honoka asked as she swung her arms up and down as she walked around.

"Precisely," Kensei nodded, before halting her to raise her arm higher, "but keep them this high above your head…"

"Got it!" Honoka continued before turning to Kensei with a confused expression, "huh?"

"What?"

"Uh, nothing…it just that you didn't fonder me like you would usually do…"

"Uh, well…under normal circumstances I would, but I can't shake the feeling that a lion would pounce on me when I do it today so…"

Honoka tilted her head in confusion until she notice that Saki, who was currently behind the Chinese martial artist, was glaring at him with a glare so sharp it was as if she was cutting his nerve up with it.

"O-Oh, I see," Honoka nervously chuckled with a sweat drop.

"Uh, Honoka-chan," Kensei nervously began, "is your friend always like this?"

"Pretty much, she's VERY protective over her friends since she doesn't have many for some reason…"

"…I can concur," Kensei muttered lowly to himself.

**RING! RING! RING!**

Both Honoka and Kensei stared over to a small timer that sat next to Apachai, who cheered in joy upon hearing the alarm.

"APA!" Apachai cheered, "Alarm clock says Kensei time is up, it's Apachai's turn!"

"Well, someone's excited," Kensei shook his head in amusement, "fine take over Apachai…"

"APA!"

"Calm down Apachai-san," Honoka chuckled, "So what are we going to learn today? Knee Drive? Elbowing?"

"APA! Today, Apachai will teach Honoka how to kill your enemy with the Low Kick!"

"L-Low Kick?" Honoka questioned, a bit disappointed, "what's so great about a low kick?"

"Actually," the Elder suddenly voiced from behind Honoka's friends, startling them, "the technique known as the Low Kick is a very powerful and destructive move. Once learned properly, one can even dominate the world of martial arts with it…"

"R-Really?" Honoka yelped in surprise.

"Uh," Ryuu suddenly spoke up, "if I'm not mistaking, the Low Kick is pretty much a kick that aim at a person lower body, especially the legs. How does learning that help in 'conquering' the world of martial arts?"

"Ah, I see you are quite knowledgeable," the Elder stroke his beard, "then allow me to explain. The Low Kick indeed involves using your leg to attack, but there's more to it! The average leg is by nature much stronger and sturdier than the average arms. Therefore, using your leg in battle is worth tens of punches in most martial arts battle…"

"True," Saki mused, "since the leg is constantly being stress when a person is merely walking and also has to support the person's never-ending growing body weight and gravity…"

"And," the Elder continued, "during battle, most people tend to forget guarding anything bellow the…uh, unmentionables. So the legs are almost always vulnerable. Adding in the fact that a person stance rely mostly on foot position, once attack there the person not only lose their sense of balance for a short period of time but also allow other openings to appear…"

"Hmm," Naoki hummed in thought, "if you look at it that way, I guess someone could use the Low Kick to win almost every battle…"

"APA!" Apachai cheered, "if Honoka learns how to use Low Kick properly, Honoka can also learn how to protect legs and beat the enemy to death too!"

"It does sound interesting now," Honoka nodded, refreshed and ready to learn the ultimate skill, "let's do it!"

"Huh," Takao huffed, watching Apachai teaching Honoka how to use the Low Kick, "and only several minutes ago she was complaining about it…"

* * *

"AAAHH!" Honoka and Kenichi screamed in terror as they quickly scrabble to avoid Shigure swinging katana.

"Hey, hey," Saki sweat dropped as she turn to the members of Ryozanpaku and pointed at the scene in front of her, "is this legal?"

"Uh," Miu hesitated.

"Well," Akisame coughed, "there's no blood…yet…so it's okay…"

"Perhaps," Sasaki nervously grumbled as he took a sip of beer.

"Then why are you letting this happen?" Naoki screeched, "They'll be kill like this!"

"Oh don't worry," Kensei wiped some sweat from his forehead, "Shigure won't go that far…I think…"

"You people THINK?" Ryuu snapped.

"Oh~!" Takao whistled in astonishment holding and pointing a speedometer at the two running Shirahama sibling, "look at this! They're running faster than a motorcycle…"

"What the," Saki exclaimed, "where did you get THAT from?"

"I came prepare. Oh, they're getting faster…"

"This is no time to be joking around Takao-kun," Ryuu comically chopped Takao on the head.

"But they are," Takao insisted as he allow Ryuu to see the screen on his speedometer, "see for yourself…"

"…Oh, they are," Ryuu awed as he watched the numbers rise before snapping back to reality, "Wait…hold on! That's not the point!"

"Boys," Saki rolled her eyes, "they have the shortest attention span…"

"Hey~!" Almost every male in the room grumbled (except for the Elder, who laughed to himself, Apachai, who didn't get it, and Kenichi, who was too focus on dodging to hear).

* * *

Meanwhile, Shigure had finally stopped her assault as the Shirahama sibling fell tiredly to the floor.

"I thought I was going to die that time!" Kenichi indicated the cut on his uniform.

"I thought for sure that last time was the closest I've ever been to death," Honoka huffed a nervous chuckle, "but now I'm not so sure…"

"Hey, Honoka," Saki asked as she crouch over her panting friend, "are still telling me that you are STILL willing to do this type of training?"

"I'm still sure," Honoka weakly replied with a weak smile, "I can't think of a better way to get stronger…"

Saki stared at her friend skeptically, before giving a sigh of frustration.

"Alright, I get," Saki huffed as she straighten up and ruffled her hair, "Knowing you, it's impossible now to get you out of this jam. I believe there was a proverb for something like this; I think it was 'you reap what you sow'? Anyway, as long as you enjoy it…and still perform well in school…I got nothing left to say…"

"Saki-san," Naoki eyed her class representative pleadingly, only frown when Saki shook her head.

"Even Saki-san is giving in," Ryuu shook his head in disbelief.

"I hadn't known her much," Takao mumbled, "but I get the feeling that Saki giving in like that is a big thing…"

That was when Saki glared over at the residences of Ryozanpaku.

"**BUT**," Saki finalized, "if Honoka **ISN'T** performing well in school because she got **TOO** exhausted from her '**TRAINING**', I swear I'll turn this dojo into a cemetery…"

* * *

With that she walked off, leaving the master of Ryozanpaku a bit baffled by her warning.

"Uh, don't worry about that," Honoka waved her hand in denial, "that's just her way of ending a conversation that she didn't benefit from…and to tell you not to get me too exhausted for school. She won't actual do…I think…"

"Oh, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho," the Elder laughed out loud, "my she is quite a friend you have there, Honoka-chan…"

"Heh," Sasaki chuckled as he took a sip from beer can, "I kind of like her style…"

"Indeed," Akisame mused as he cupped his chin, "she seems like the type that could actually get things done around here…"

"APA!" Apachai sounded, "Saki remind Apachai of Apachai's master. Maybe Apachai can fight one day…"

"Well," Kensei nervously chuckled, "if she says that she can turn the dojo into a cemetery, I for one actually believe her…"

"…Hey, Honoka," Shigure began, "was she the…one? The one who taught you that arm…movement?"

"Uh," Honoka scratched the back of her head, "yeah~…"

"…Interesting. Maybe I too will challenge…her…someday…"

"Uh…ok?" Kenichi nervously chuckled with a sweat drop.

"Uh," Ryuu sounded as move to get both Naoki and Takao to stand up with him, "We better get going ourselves. See you later then, Honoka-chan…"

"Nice knowing you," Takao chuckled as he followed Ryuu, his arm cross behind his head.

"Uh," Naoki fidgeted for a moment before straightening, "I hope you best of luck! I'll…come by to visit sometime…"

With that Naoki hurried to catch up to the others.

"Oh, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho," the Elder chuckled, "you have very dedicated friends, Honoka-chan…"

"Yeah," Honoka sighed, "but why do I get the feeling that this was only the start?"

"Well," Kenichi shook his head in ache, "we'll find out soon enough…"

* * *

The next day was pretty much the same as any other days in Ryozanpaku for its residence. Well, almost…

"GAAH!" Kensei screamed in pain as he was sent flying into the dojo stone wall.

"And there's plenty more where that came from," Saki declared, staring at the spot where Kensei had landed; he was twitching every now and then.

"Uh," Honoka sweat dropped, "Saki-chan, you didn't need to do that, I was about to take care of it myself…"

"And how long will THAT take?" Saki rolled her knowingly, "besides, if you had struck him he would have lecture you for the 'incorrect' posture…"

"True, but…was really necessary to use that metal baseball bat?"

"What? You mean this?" Saki pointed to the now dent metal bat in her hand, "Takao-san said to use it, and for some reason it made sense at the time so…"

"Uh…ok?" Honoka sweat dropped as she peeked over at Takao who was currently talking to Akisame.

"You see~," Takao grinned as he and Akisame watch Kenichi try to fend off a series of robots all in different size and shape, "by making him battle against such a variety of different kind of enemy, the results is more acceptable…"

"Ingenious," Akisame awed with a nod, "this method is indeed bringing out better results…"

"WHY THE HELL YOU ARE HELPING MY MASTER TORTURED ME?" Kenichi demanded as he fought for his life.

"This isn't torturing," Akisame and Takao grinned in unison, "this is training…"

"UUUGGH~!"

"A-APA," Apachai managed with a sweat drop as he stared down at the Othello board game.

"Sorry, Apachai-san," Naoki laughed in amusement, no longer wearing a mouth mask, "I guess I win this round. But you were definitely tough…"

"Are you KIDDING me?" Sasaki exclaimed as he, Shigure, and Ryuu stared at the game, "Apachai is one of the best Othello player in Ryozanpaku…second only to Honoka! And you beat him…no, 'beat him' isn't strong enough in this case, you TOTALLY clobbered him!"

"Uh," Ryuu sweat dropped, "is it worth mention that when she and Honoka go head to head in this game, they always end up with a tie?"

"Say WHAT?"

"Very…impressive," Shigure mumbled, clapping her hand.

"I'm," Naoki nervously chuckled to herself in embarrassment, "I'm not THAT good…"

"Like hell you're NOT!" Sasaki grunted as the Elder just laughed.

Honoka, meanwhile, sighed to herself in amusement.

"I better get use to this new way of life," Honoka hummed, "at Ryozanpaku…"

* * *

OC Profile #1: Saki Suzume

Like most of all the redheads that appears throughout the history of anime and/or manga, Saki is your average, if not classic, tomboy as you may have realized by now. Not much can be provided about her background (for now) but it is known that she has a relatively large and close family. She's also very talented, as you probably already guessed, and that had earn her a well-deserve place as Honoka's Class Representative, though she doesn't seem to take much pride being one. She has many claims on the origin of how she had became so talented, ranging from having many younger relatives with an Apachai personality (thus allowing her to put up with and handle childish antics) to winning against a five-year-old Siberian Tiger (thus "explaining" how powerful she could be), though these only further the mystery of her background. It should also be noted that, for the sake of protecting her friends, she isn't afraid to take on larger or stronger foes, even the Masters of Ryozanpaku. So far, she is, by far, the only female known to be able to give Kensei Ma a serious and well-deserve beating.

More about Saki Suzume later on…

* * *

In the next chapter, I've decided to move away from Honoka for a while and show you how things has been for Kenichi, Miu, and the rest of the Shinpaku Alliance. Don't worry, the chapter afterwards will get back on track.

Oh, and for those of you looking forward to Honoka X Natsu, this upcoming chapter is where it all begins! Until then, please review and tell me what you think.


	7. Chapter 7

**Ryozanpaku Second Disciple**

* * *

Disclaimer: Normama does own…Kenichi: History's Mightiest…Disciple. But…he does own the OC that appears in the…story.

Normama: …Uh, okay? Thanks Shigure! Uh, now back to the story!

Kenichi: Wow! Normama manage to stand in front of Shigure-san without getting cut up!

Shigure: …How…rude!

* * *

"Honoka sure is doing well," Miu hummed in thought as she turn to her walking companion, "wouldn't you agree, Kenichi?"

"And how," Kenichi sighed with a small smile, "she's definitely doing a LOT better than me…"

If you are wondering, both of them are currently wearing their standard school uniforms, as such it was quite obvious that they are currently heading to their school right now.

It has been three days since they met Honoka's four friends. From the "out of the wild" and VERY skill redhead Saki Suzume to the newly befriended recycle freak Takao Takeo.

And during the time, Honoka has been getting better and better at learning Ryozanpaku's form of martial arts. And according to the masters, Honoka would soon be ready to spar with Kenichi on a regular bases.

"It's no surprise, though," Kenichi sighed again, this time without the small smile, "even before joining Ryozanpaku, the masters had already pointed out Honoka's talents in martial arts. Me? I'm talent-less and will eventually fall behind…"

"D-Don't say that, Kenichi," Miu rushed, fearing that her friend sadden for the entire day, "I mean, sure Honoka has talents, an urge to learn, and a fast learner…"

"In other word, everything I'm not…"

"Uh, yeah…but that doesn't mean that you'll get push aside! Even the master are trying to make sure not to make you feel left out…"

"Yeah, by working me even harder. But if you ask me, Honoka is catching up so quickly no amount of training will keep me from falling behind her…"

"Uh…" Miu panicked. She didn't expect Kenichi to think THAT far. And she really couldn't counter most of what he had said; Honoka had indeed been growing rapidly into a martial artist.

"Thing is," Kenichi muttered, gazing off into the sky, "I'm actually having mix feeling about how Honoka is turning out…"

"Huh?"

"Well, thanks to her learning martial arts now, I can somewhat ease my mind about Honoka being able to take care of herself. But all in all, I'm still her big brother; there are times when I feel like it's my duty to protect my younger sister from harm. That's probably another reason for me wanting to practice martial arts in the first place, but at the rate she's going, I may one day find that she'll be the protecting me…"

"Kenichi," Miu managed. She didn't realize that Honoka's progress had made THIS much of an impact on Kenichi. And worse, it would seem like Kenichi has no clue how to deal with it; it could tear him apart! She had to do something! But before she could even say another word…

"HIYA!" a female voice roared just as a large man came crashing in front of them, unconscious.

Baffled at first, the two turn to see two more grown man trying to attack a sixteen-years-old Chinese girl wearing the same uniform as they have. She also had braid black hair with two small ponytail sticking out from the side of her head, kept there by bells. And yes, for all you pervert boys out there, she has an incredible breast size (probably equal to Miu's if you must know).

"R-Renka-san?" Miu and Kenichi gasped as the Chinese girl sent the last two men flying into a far-off wall, unconscious.

"Ha," the girl huffed, "that'll teach you! Hey, wait a minute, I thought someone just called my name…"

Renka Ma turned her head and as soon as she saw Kenichi she immediately pounces on him, quite literally in fact.

"Kenichi!" Renka cheered hugging Kenichi tightly and ignoring the now growling Miu, "Morning!"

"R-Renka-san?" Kenichi blinked, before noticing Miu's growing anger, "Uh, morning to you too; now please let go of me!"

"You're such a joker," Renka grinned before Miu forcefully pulled her off of the panting Kenichi.

"Hey there, Renka-san," Miu weakly smiled, twitching her eyebrow in an attempt to suppress her anger.

"Oh, hey," Renka quickly greeted, "I see you two are walking together again this morning…"

"Of course, we live at the dojo…"

"I know, I know," Renka sighed, before whispering so that only Miu could, "but just because you're walking and living together, it doesn't mean you have an advantage you know. Kenichi will be with me in the end…"

"Oh, I don't know about that," Miu dangerously whispered back, loud enough to only be heard by Renka, "There's no way Kenichi will fall for a girl that is constantly get ambush by assassins…"

"Is that a fact?"

"Yeah, it is…"

The two growled dangerously at each, their aura steadily growing to dangerous level.

"Oh crap," Kenichi squeaked, "I got to stop this somehow…"

"Yo, Kenichi!" a voiced called from behind.

Everyone turn to a fairly tall tan teen wearing the same school uniform as Kenichi. He has silver hair tied back in a ponytail and a piece of straw sticking out of his grinning mouth.

"Takada-san!" Kenichi cheered comically, "thank god! Help me calm these two down!"

"I rather not," Takada Ikki smirked, causing Kenichi to comically trip, "take it from me Kenichi, my man, never get in-between a girl's query…"

"That's the problem," Kenichi comically cried, "somehow I feel like I'm right in the center of this…"

"Oh~, well good luck with that," Takada smirked again, laughing when he saw Kenichi's comical shocked face, "anyway, we better hurry; school starts in five minutes…"

"EEH!" Renka and Miu exclaimed, checking their watch, "Oh my god, he's RIGHT! Let's get going, Kenichi!"

With that, and completely forgetting who they are cooperating with, the two dragged the screaming Shirahama off.

Takada, meanwhile, shook his head in amazement.

"That lucky bastard," was all he could manage before he sped off to catch up.

* * *

"…I thought I was going to die this morning…again," Kenichi moaned as trudge along the road, "and to top it all off, I had totally mess up on the test today! Not to mention because I had to take the retake, I nearly choked on my food since I had only five minutes before lunch ended! Jeez, what a day…"

"Sorry Kenichi," Miu apologized.

"Well," Renka smiled, "at least you're back on schedule, right?"

"Yeah," Kenichi huffed as he draws closer to the Shinpaku Alliance's base, "by the way, do either of you two know why Takada-san asked me to this place?"

"Not really," Renka huffed as the three made there way into the building and toward the training room, "he just walked up to us during lunch looking for you. When we told him that you were doing the retake test, he told us to tell you to come to this dump…"

"Really?" Kenichi pondered as he opens the door, "this is getting suspicious; I bet Niijima has something to do with this…"

"And you thought right!" a voiced hissed in front of Kenichi as soon as he entered.

The three yelped in surprised as they jumped back from a tall and slim (yet somehow solid) seventeen-year-old (in human years at least) boy with a long face, sharp nose, long pointed ears, glaring eyes, and ear-long puddle-bowl hair. He was wearing Kenichi's standard school uniform with an addition of a red cape and had a grin that seems "out of this world" (almost quite literally).

"GAAH!" Kenichi yelped comically (Miu and Renka as well), "Niijima! Don't do that!"

"He~ ha, ha, ha, ha, ha," Niijima Haruo laughed sinisterly, "I didn't get my reputation for NOT scaring the crap out of people you know!"

"You Demon-Faced Space Alien!"

"Yes~! Praise me more~!"

Kenichi just sighed before another voice caught his attention.

"Well, look who finally decided to come by," a girl voice huffed.

Kenichi peered over Niijima's shoulder to see a short red-haired, green eyed, eighteen-years-old girl. She wore a loose red shirt with the word "Valkyrie" on the front, a ripped up pair of jean (with most of left side of jean gone), a green cap, and brown boots.

She was sparring with a fairly tall dark-skinned woman with blue eyes, messy brown hair, and a thin scar running across her left cheek. She is curvaceous (yes, she has a fairly huge bust, you perverts) but also had a well-toned frame. She's wearing a blue spandex bodysuit, an orange leather jacket, and a chain necklace with an eye design as a focus. She was twirling a staff against the redhead.

"I see you two are doing well," Miu and Renka commented the fighting duo in unison, causing them to glare at each other.

Kisara Nanjo, the redhead, and Kaname Kugatachi (better known as Freya), the dark-skinned woman, paused their train to wave back before immediately reinitiating their match.

"Yo, Kenichi!" Takada called from the corner, where he and several other people were doing a strange routine while chanting "Shinpaku" every now and then.

One of them was a large well built man with short spiky messy blonde hair and wore sunglasses.

Another was an extremely large (both in height and built) and muscular man with short black hair and wore what seems to be a modify sumo uniform.

There was also a long silver-haired man dress in what seems to a modify brown dancing suit with European origin from head to toe. He was the loudest and probably one of the most dedicated to the routine aside from Matsui, Shinpaku Alliance's flag boy.

There were others with them as well, doing the same strange routine and are as passionate Matsui is.

"WHAT are guys DOING?" Kenichi screamed in disbelief.

"What does it look like?" the sunglasses wearing Ukita Kozo, A.K.A. Ukita the Thrower, smiled, "we're honoring the spirit of the Shinpaku Alliance…"

"Indeed~!" sang the silver-haired Hibiki Kugenin (better known as Siegfried, the Immortal Composer), "the more I do THIS~, the greater my inspiration for a new SONG~!"

"SHINPAKU~!" the extremely large man Yuma Chiaki (nicknamed Thor) exclaimed, "I do this for all the unfit people in the world!"

"THOR!" Kenichi exclaimed, "This is NOT a good way to represent those people you talk about!"

"Forget it, Shirahama," a voice sighed form the other corner, "the damn alien's brainwashing has put them beyond help…"

Kenichi turned, again, to find a fair-skinned well-toned boy wearing dark clothing, a dark cloak, dark hood, arm bands, leather boots, and leather gloves with pentagram sewed on them leaning against a wall, clearly annoyed.

"Oh," Kenichi brighten a bit in a comical way, "Natsu-chan…"

"DON'T call me 'Natsu-chan'!" Natsu Tanimoto, or Hermit, angrily yelled as he grabbed Kenichi by the collar, shaking him in rage, "Don't SPEAK to me! Don't even Breathe around ME!"

"Hey!" Renka threateningly growled, slapping Hermit's hands off of Kenichi, "hands off YOMI! Don't think just because Kenichi approve you being around doesn't mean you can do whatever you want!"

"Funny," Hermit growled back, "I don't recall Shirahama having a female bodyguard…"

"WHAT!" Renka moved to strike only to be held back by Miu.

* * *

"So, Natsu-," Kenichi began but hesitated when Hermit gave him a angry growled, "err…Tanimoto-kun, why are you doing here?"

Hermit hesitated a bit.

"…The alien insisted," Hermit answered looking away, "And…I'm here to give you an update on YAMI progress…"

"YAMI?" Kenichi raised an eyebrow in surprise, "I thought that most of the One Shadow Nine Fist are lock away; shouldn't they have collapse?"

"You're too arrogant, Commander Kenichi," Niijima sneered, "We're talking about an organization that been behind-the-scene in almost every government in the world for over FIFTY years! Did you honestly thing that with most of their rarely active leaders lock away that YAMI would collapse so easily?"

"Uh…"

"…My thought exactly," Niijima smirked before turning to Hermit with an even bigger (if it was possible) smirk, "BUT, that isn't the ONLY reason you agree to come here so EASILY, isn't it?"

"Uh…" Hermit hesitated a bit before immediately straightening out, "I don't know what talking about…"

"Really~?" Niijima laughed so hard that his fork tongue whipped back and forth and two pointy antenna popped out of his head.

"…"

"Too embarrass? I never took you as the type to be overcome with stage fright. You know, since you're in the drama club…"

"…"

"Aw, what's the matter? Is it love sickness or heartbreak that caught your tongue?"

"…DIE YOU DAMN ALIEN!" Hermit shouted, aiming to punch Niijima in the face only to find Siegfried taking the blow instead.

"No one~," Siegfried sang, uninjured by Hermit's attempt, "shall touch my Demon Lord~!"

"He~ ha, ha, ha, ha, ha," Niijima laughed as he scooted back several feet, "in truth, Kenichi, Hermit has been missing him girlfriend…"

"G-Girlfriend?" Everyone exclaimed in surprise (even Kisara and Freya, who paused their match), "Hermit has a girlfriend?"

"I…DO…NOT!" Hermit yelled in defiant before pointing menacingly to Niijima, "And YOU, don't spread such a stupid random RUMOR!"

"Then you tell them the truth…unless of course it IS true~!" Niijima cackled evilly.

"…You damn alien," Hermit growled.

"So~," Kenichi slowly and cautiously began, "what's the REAL reason you came, Tanimoto-kun?"

"…Well," Hermit began, scratching the back of his head, "that annoying sister of yours hadn't pester me for nearly three weeks…so, I was wondering if you know what kind of diabolical mess is she going to be throwing at me when she starts coming again…"

"In other words," Niijima snickered, suddenly appearing beside Hermit and putting his arm around him, "on a reasonable term, he's wondering what happen to your sister. On a fantasy scale, he's wonder when his girlfriend will stop stepping him up…"

"I WILL KILL YOU!" Hermit yelled as he tried to punch him only for Niijima to dodge all of his jabs expertly.

"Okay, Niijima, that's enough," Kenichi grumbled, "that's my sister you're talking about…"

* * *

"Oh~! Speaking of which, I just remembered," Takada thumped his palm before coming over to Kenichi and heartily patted him on the back, "Congratulation Kenichi my pal, you've inspired your own little sister to practice Martial Arts…"

"WHAT?" Renka, Ukita, Kisara, Freya, Thor, Siegfried (in his own way), Niijima (who paused his dodging), and Hermit (who punched Niijima without realizing it) exclaimed.

"You mean that cute kid sister of Kenichi is practicing Martial Arts?" Renka exclaimed in shock.

"Yeah," Takada answered before looking down at Niijima, "wait, you didn't know about it Niijima?"

"This is the first I've heard about it!" Niijima exclaimed, surprising everyone, "wait a minute, if Kenichi's sister is practicing Martial Arts then…"

"Yep," Miu chimed, "Honoka is training and now living at Ryozanpaku! It has been nearly three weeks seen she moved in…"

"WHAT?" Everyone exclaimed again, "She's training at Ryozanpaku!"

"Wait," Ukita turned to Takada, "how did you know about this?"

"Well," Takada scratched the back of his head, "I ran into her during one of James-sensei's jogging exercise. By then, she had already became a disciple considering she was doing training under Akisame-sensei when I came by…"

"Seriously," Kisara awed before noticing Kenichi's dipping face.

She wasn't the only one.

"What's wrong Kenichi?" Thor asked, "you look just like me when I thought I had to give up dream after I lose to you…"

"U-Uh oh," Miu voiced in worried.

"…Yeah, Honoka just became Ryozanpaku's second disciple," Kenichi sighed, "in fact, she's doing a lot better than me when I first started. I have a feeling she going to replace me soon as History's Mightiest Disciple soon…the one thing I could be proud of after entering Ryozanpaku…"

"…Huh?" Everyone except Miu sounded as they watch Kenichi becoming more and more depress by the second.

* * *

"Um," Miu rushed to change the subject, "anyway, what kind of information do you have for us, Tanimoto-kun?"

"Huh?" Hermit stared back blankly, before realizing that a change of subject may be best at the moment, "Oh, right! Uh, it would seems that despite the fact that most of the One Shadow Nine Fist is lock up, the lower divisions are beginning to start making suspicious moves. More than usual might I add. I don't know the details, considering the fact that if I dig any deeper I would be discovered as a double-double agent, but I do know that some of the weapon divisions' master classes are wanting to become the new members of the One Shadow Nine Fist."

"I see," Niijima hummed in thought, "that means Ryozanpaku will be showered by attacks soon…"

"Eh?" Kenichi sounded, breaking out of his depression, "what do you mean?"

"You've recovered," Niijima smirked, "anyway, it would appears that the lower ranking members of YAMI has their eyes on the tops' vacant seats. Desperate too, considering the fact that Hermit could know so little. Judging from that, it will come to no surprise that will do any means necessary to take those seat…and what better way to do it than by attacking the very force that created those vacant slots? Get the picture?"

"I see~!" Siegfried hummed, "by defeating even one of the member of Ryozanpaku's masters means the remaining higher ups will acknowledge their potential and thus approve of their entering of One Shadow Nine Fist ranking~!"

"That's not all," Niijima continued, "if one of these ambitious masters send their disciple in instead to take out Kenichi…"

"That will be more in their advantage," Freya caught on, "not only will they'll be administrated as a member of One Shadow Nine Fist, but they will get acknowledge as be the one responsible for training the disciple to that defeated History Mightiest Disciple…"

"Making them even higher than the ones currently on top now!" Renka gasped at the realization.

"Precisely," Niijima turned to the shocked Kenichi, "which means that during this time, Kenichi, you'll be in constant danger. More in danger than ever before…"

"More in danger than before?" Miu repeated, "Hadn't Kenichi suffer worse before?"

"No, before it is more organize and planned ahead. Despite that it's always about timing. But not this time; this time they'll just come at you. They'll won't even be aware of others and their own agenda. Kenichi will not be facing just group at a time from now on, he could be facing multiple groups at once; he could be target at any turn, at any place, at any time. Kenichi may find himself in a situation where as soon as he beat one, ten others wish to challenge right after…which could be the worse case scenario. He wouldn't even be able to go to the toilet in his own home without the possibility that as soon as he exit he'll be ambushed by the enemy! That's how dangerous the situation has become…"

Silent overtook the entire room as everyone shivered at Niijima's justification. Kenichi's mouth had dropped to new length.

"Um," Renka muttered, "in other words, it'll kind be like MY situation…only worse?"

"In a nutshell," Niijima sighed, "Yes. But this isn't just Kenichi's problem. The Shinpaku Alliance will also be trouble by this very same problem…"

"WHAT?" was a collective response, "WHAT DO MEAN?"

"You are forgetting," Niijima calmly spoke despite the sudden outburst, "YOMI and YAMI had already consider the Alliance as part of Ryozanpaku. We've done enough to make them think so; from participating in the D of D to actively interfere in YAMI Operation: Eternal Sunset. Besides, what better way to draw out History's Mightiest Disciple then to attack the very friends he got close to?"

"…I hate to admit it," Kisara pulled down the rim of her hat gravely, "but the alien has a point…"

"Jeez," Ukita huffed, "if it's not one thing it another…"

* * *

Everyone remained silent for a moment until Matsui suddenly exploded.

"Hey, hey," he shouted as he waving the Shinpaku Alliance's flag wildly, catching everyone's attention, "why are we so worry about, General Niijima? It not like the Shinpaku Alliance hasn't survived a crisis before! And the one who are attacking us aren't technically the disciple of the One Shadow Nine Fist; the strongest of the YOMI had already been beaten! Until they do reach the same level, they'll just thugs or like most of the fighters of the D of D? We'll survive right?"

"That's right!" one of the other lower member of the Alliance chimed, "besides, this benefit the captains as well!"

"Yeah," another joined, "they're not going to get stronger by fighting weak enemy!"

"Or us for that matter," another called out, "we got to show those YAMI that the Shinpaku Alliance isn't going to crack under pressure!"

Niijima stared at his lesser subordinate before an evil grin spread across his face.

"You know what?" Niijima rhetorically asked with cackled, "You're all right! This is an excellent opportunity for the Alliance! An actual and more thrilling challenges, a chance to raise the Alliance's reputation and fame, and soundly eliminate the last of YAMI force one by one. We don't have to worry about hunting them down, they'll come RIGHT here for us~!"

"Huh," Hermit huffed in amusement, "that's one way to look at it…"

"Can't believe it took our own subordinate that we lead to put us straight," Kisara grinned.

"Indeed," Freya smiled, twirling her staff, "why should we be afraid of this? We should be thanking them if it turns out like that…"

"I'll be able to perfect my Combat Sumo quicker this way," Thor gave a determine thumbs up.

"The more battles I fight for the Shinpaku Alliance~," Siegfried sang, "the more song I can pick up~! Ah, I just had inspiration! I'll call this new piece 'Sudden Light amongst the Darkness'~!"

"Well," Takada smirked, "the situation just really means we got bit more to deal with anyway. I suppose that really isn't something to be worked up about…"

"That's the spirit," Renka cheered at everyone's recovered enthusiasm, "keep that attitude and those constant ambush you'll be having won't even be a bother to you…"

"Uh," Miu sweat dropped, "Renka-san, I don't think that's helping…"

"Huh?"

* * *

Kenichi smiled, seeing that somehow, despite the situation, everyone was enthusiastic again.

"_If only my situation can be view in such a way,"_ Kenichi sighed in thought.

"Well," Kenichi turned to Miu, "if this is all, I think we should head back now Miu…"

"Yeah," Miu nodded as she and Kenichi started to exit. Well, at least they almost did…

"Not so fast, you two," Niijima hissed, stopping the two in they place, "we're not quite done yet…"

"What now, Niijima?" Kenichi sighed in frustration, "haven't we discuss all we need?"

"Who said anything about talking? I was thinking more on the line of 'updating'…"

"…What do you mean?" Kenichi sweat dropped, getting more and more worry by the second.

"You did mention the fact that your sister had enter Ryozanpaku to learn Martial Arts, right? I want to go see her progress myself…and administrate her as part of the Shinpaku Alliance if possible…"

"You WHAT?" Kenichi, if not everyone, shouted, "Are you out of your FREAKING mind?"

"Not really. Think about it Kenichi, your sister is now a member of Ryozanpaku…and a disciple no less. She too would be target by those ambitious YAMI member…"

"WHAT? Why? She just started…"

"It doesn't matter! The overall goal for these people is take out Ryozanpaku to get a higher position! What better way, I ask, then to take out their disciple…or should I say Disciples?"

"I…" Kenichi paused, thinking for a moment, "Wait, you've got a point…for once…"

"Now, I'll ask this then, which way is better: having her as a sitting duck or having her as a sitting duck with constant camera to alert mother duck that her chick is in danger?"

"…Uh, the second choice?"

"Precisely! If she joins the Alliance she can have our protection and support! Isn't it better for her to be in a group, a group you can trust for that matter?"

"…You…You actually make a lot of sense! It would be safer for her!"

"Good, so let's get going…"

"Right!"

"Wow," Kisara noted, "the alien is getting better at manipulating him…"

"Yeah," Ukita added, "Kenichi didn't even notice the antenna had latch on his head the entire time…"

Sure enough, Niijima's two antenna had inserted themselves into the lobe of Kenichi's head (in a sense, brainwashing him).

"Hey," Hermit suddenly voiced, "I'm coming too…"

"EH?" Everyone exclaimed in surprise, staring at him, "You are?"

"Don't get the wrong idea," Hermit calmly sighed, "I want to see how far she's getting and to see myself how long will it take for her to become formidable…"

"In that case, I'll go too!" Renka chimed too, "It's been a while since I last check in with Papa and want to see how Kenichi's little sister manage to put up with Papa's pervert moment…"

Hearing that last comment, Miu and Kenichi instinctively began to suppress their laugh.

"What's wrong with you two?" Renka asked, not understanding what was so funny.

"Well," Miu hummed, "let's just say that for the pass three days I've been able to walk around without Kensei harassing me…"

"O…K?" Takada noted before turning to all the high ranking members, "Well, why don't we all go? I'm interested in knowing how she's doing too…and I got a personal message for her…"

"Why not," Kisara shrugged, "sounds interesting enough…"

"We'll stay here, Commander," Matsui, along with the other lower member, saluted Niijima, "and we'll keep this base from being ambushed by enemies if they come by…"

"Good," Niijima nodded, holding up his PDA, "and if something does happen, alert me via my PDA immediately, understood?"

"YES SIR!"

"Right, let's move…"

* * *

OC Profile #2: Naoki Atsuko

Naoki can be described as a shy, friendly, and sincere person who doesn't want to cause trouble to others. Before meeting Akisame at Ryozanpaku, she had always been seen wearing a mouth mask, the reason was that her parents believed that her body couldn't "filter" the air she breathe in herself. On that note, not much can be said about her parents except for two things. One: they are obviously not short on cash as they must have wasted millions to find a cure for their daughter. Two: they aren't narrow-minded as they have tried every technique presented to help Naoki (for example, moving to Tokyo just because the "air was good"). She had definitely been sick most of her life, having a weak immune system and (as later explained by Akisame) has problem receiving proper energy for herself. Because of this, she was very poor in athletics (to the point of being excuse for the entire session) and can quickly get sick from simple contact. Somehow or another, Naoki manage to surpass her ordeals and finally meeting the Philosophical Jujitsu Master, who would solve her strange condition. Since then, Naoki had discard her mouth mask and begun participating in athletics (on advise of Akisame). Despite her condition, she still had many strong points that continues to be her best traits even after condition slowly heal, such as being a pro in Hide-And-Seek (being the most difficult player to find) and being a pro in Othello (rivaling and on the same level as Honoka).

More on Naoki Atsuko later on…

* * *

Next Chapter: the Shinpaku Alliance visit Ryozanpaku and meets Honoka's classmate/friends. Finally a Natsu X Honoka scene, right?

Please review the story so far.


	8. Chapter 8

**Ryozanpaku Second Disciple**

* * *

Disclaimer: While it is true that to learn Martial Arts one must first start with the art of imitation, that philosophy does not apply to plagiarism. You must reserve copyright to their rightful own. So Normama can only claim ownership of the various OC that appears throughout the story. At any time that fact is proven wrong, I personally apologize for the misunderstanding. And if it was done intentional, I'll PERSONAL discipline him…

Normama: OW! OW! OW! Why are putting me in this contraption? I hadn't done any plagiarism yet!

Akisame: Oh this? This is just to let you get a taste of what is in store for you when you do. Nothing special…

Kenichi: Someone call 911!

Normama: Cruelty to the Innocent!

CRACK!

Akisame: Oops, that wasn't supposed to happen. Putting that aside, Normama has no claim whatsoever over Kenichi: History's Mightiest Disciple. Please continue reading while I fix Normama up.

Normama: …Is my leg suppose bend this way?

Akisame: Nope.

* * *

Kenichi and Miu stood in front of the giant gate of Ryozanpaku. They had managed to slowly but surely lead Niijima, Hermit, Takada, Ukita, Kisara, Freya, Thor, Siegfried, and Renka to the old dojo front without much incident, surprisingly enough.

Several minutes ago, Hermit's information and Niijima's prediction had cause the group to be uncomfortably self aware of their surrounding, believing that a YOMI member would suddenly spring an attack on them. Even Hermit, who was usually more than prepared, was tense the entire time. Niijima had even kept his alien sensory at full capacity to be alert at a possible threat nearby.

But so far, nothing.

"I thought I was going get jump at least twice on my way here," Kisara wiped the sweat from her head.

"You're thinking too small," Niijima huffed at Valkyrie's ignorance, "I had expect fourteen encounters by now…"

"Same here," Renka nodded, "I should know, I've always been ambushed…"

"…Ok?" Takada sweat dropped, only for his ears to pick up something, "Hey, do you guys here that?"

Everyone immediately tuned into their hearing and before long they too heard what Takada heard: the sound of metal clashing against each other.

"I believe it's coming from inside the dojo~," Siegfried, who had the sharpest of hearing among the others (aside from Niijima), sang.

"…Oh no," Kenichi whimpered in worry as he quickly opened the heavy door and rushed in, "Don't tell me…"

"Hey, Shirahama, wait up!" Hermit called as he and the rest followed.

Hermit arrived just in time to see Kenichi doing an anime slip, shouting, "I KNEW IT!"

Hermit and the rest quickly went over to see what Kenichi had saw…and found themselves staring and gasping in awe.

Honoka was there. Shigure was there. What they are doing, you ask? Dueling it out…with REAL swords! I repeat, REAL swords!

"What the-!" Freya gasped.

* * *

Meanwhile, Shigure was pressing harder and harder against Honoka, who could only guard against the fast and powerful attack. Suddenly, Shigure lung forward even more, aiming to jab at Honoka's now expose neck.

But before it could, Honoka twisted her wrist clockwise causing her sword to bump into Shigure's sword which made the blade narrowly miss Honoka's neck. Before Shigure could think, Honoka divert her sword upward, causing the sword master to jump lean back to avoid the upward cut. This of course made Shigure pull her sword, away from Honoka's neck.

Honoka than brought down her sword onto Shigure's vulnerable body. But, as if she was expecting it, Shigure used the momentum of her pulled back sword to position her weapon to block Honoka's attack.

After a short pause, both combatant ease themselves and retook their respective distant from each other.

"Good job…Honoka," Shigure complimented, putting her katana back into its scabbard, "you almost got me that…time…"

"Nah," Honoka huffed as she showed Shigure her sword and flicked it, causing it to fall into piece, "you made sure that I couldn't battle anymore, Shigure-san. I lost since you block the last strike I could do with the sword…"

"…True," Shigure mumbled, before pointing at two small cuts on her kimono, "but you still got…close…"

"Are you kidding me?" Honoka pointed at herself, just as several large cuts appear hither and thither all over her outfit, "I'm in an even worse state than you!"

"…True," Shigure mumbled before noticing the staring faces, "Oh, it looks like Kenichi brought his…friends."

"Oh, hey Brother! Hi Tanimoto-kun!" Honoka called, "I see you two brought those friends of yours from that weird group…what's with the open mouth everyone?"

"Y…You had been battling Shigure?" Miu managed, pointing at Shigure's katana, "with REAL blades?"

"Shigure-san said I was ready a bit…"

"I'll say," Kensei snickered, suddenly appearing with a camera and snapping some photos at Honoka and Shigure.

"KYA!" Honoka exclaimed in surprise, "Master Ma!"

"PAPA!" Renka screeched in disbelief as everyone else sweat drop at the Chinese man's antic, "that is disgraceful! Don't do it in front of my friends; you're embarrassing me and the family name!"

"Oh hey, Renka!" Kensei giggled childishly as he continues to take pictures of the two, despite the fact that Shigure was actively trying to fend him off, "I'll talk to you in a bit. Right now, I'm in heaven~!"

"PAPA!"

"Three…" Kenichi start counting.

"Huh?" Takada hummed in thought when he heard, "what's are you doing?"

"Two~…" Miu smiled knowingly.

"…A countdown~?" Siegfried wondered.

"…One…" Honoka chuckled nervously.

"FORT~!" a voice called out.

"…Huh?" Kensei nervously managed with a sweat drop just as a metal golf club whacked him straight into the far wall, "AAAAAHHH~!"

* * *

Everyone, who hadn't been in Ryozanpaku for the past three days, flinched as Kensei crashed into the wall, falling unconscious.

"What was THAT?" Ukita managed.

Everyone stared back at the place that the Chinese Master had once been to find a girl around Honoka's age with long red hair, held back by a black ribbon with cartoon sun face design all over it, a pair of earring in the shape of tiny birds, and had three feathers tuck behind her right ear. She wore the standard school uniform found at Honoka's school and a metal golf club in her hand.

"Jeez," the young teen huffed, resting the golf club on her shoulder, "you really can't teach old dogs news tricks, can't you? They'll keep repeating the same moves until they eventually drop dead…"

"Hey Saki-chan," Honoka nervously greeted, "thanks for the save…but where did you that golf club…"

"What? This?" Saki wondered as she picked up Kensei camera and in one fine swipe crushed it with her bare hand, "It fell out of one of Takao's contraption when Sasaki destroyed it, so I thought I'll put it to good use…"

Everyone from the Shinpaku Alliance blinked before turning to Kenichi and Miu for an explanation.

"Everyone," Kenichi started, "This is Honoka's childhood friend, Saki Suzume. She's been stopping by for the pass three days…"

"The most refreshing three days of my life~!" Miu added with a chuckle.

"Hmm?" Saki, who just notice the presence of so many new faces, turn to Honoka, "who are these people?"

"They're friends of Brother," Honoka informed, before going over and cling onto Hermit's arm, "and THIS guy is a friend of mine…"

"H-Hey!" Hermit struggled to escape from the female Shirahama grip, "I told you not to hang off of me like that!"

"…Honoka seems to trust you, so you can't be bad despite your looks," Saki hummed in thought as she walked around him, inspecting him, "and your sense of fashion…"

"Get off of me already," Hermit hissed to Honoka before turning to Saki, "And you! Stop circling me like that!"

"Why resist?" Niijima sneered, "You know you like the way she is clinging to you~!"

"Hey~," Kenichi narrowed his eyes at the Shinpaku Alliance's leader.

"…One of these days," Hermit growled, turning red as the rest of the male member snicker at the sight, "I'm going to kill you, you damn alien!"

* * *

"PAPA!" Renka exclaimed, catching everyone's attention, as she try to shake her father awake, "Wake up! This isn't like you! How could you have gotten hit by some little girl when you managed with so many others?"

"…Well," Honoka scratched her cheek, "technically he lost since the first day they met…"

"Actually," Kenichi sweat dropped, "it was more like as soon as he met her he lose…"

"Oh~," Kensei managed as he began to gather his grounds again, "that HAD hurt…"

"Do it again," Saki muttered threateningly, "and you won't even feel pain…you'll just drop dead…"

Everyone, who wasn't familiar with Saki, eyed her incredulity.

"Is she serious?" Kisara wondered.

"Who knows?" Freya shrugged.

"I don't know who you are," Renka suddenly growled, "I don't care if you're Kenichi's little sister's friend. I don't even care that Papa is a pervert! But if threaten a member of the Ma Family…"

Renka suddenly jumped into the air and aimed a dive kick toward Saki.

"You are GOING to get HURT!" Renka declared.

"Oh my~!" Siegfried sang in surprise, "Young one~! Dodge quickly~!"

But all Saki did was lean back before sending a fast head butt forward at Renka's foot. This surprised Renka, but what surprised her even more was the fact that SHE was sent fly backwards, landing on her next to her papa, while Saki had remain where she stood.

"WHOA!" Thor and Ukita jerked back in surprise.

"What the?" Hermit managed, before turning to Honoka, "hey, is your friend a martial artist?"

"Uh," Honoka hummed in thought as everyone (even Kenichi, Miu, and Kensei) waited for an answer, "actually, as far as I know, she isn't…"

"WHAT?" Everyone exclaimed.

"That's impossible!" Renka fumed, "only a martial artist could have countered my attack!"

"…I'm not interested in Martial Arts," Saki huffed in annoyance, "and don't plan to start liking or even learn any of them anytime soon…"

"Then how did you…"

"Reflexes," Saki huffed, getting annoyed, "Pure instinctive reflexes! End of discussion…"

Honoka, seeing that the conversation was going downhill, coughed a change in topic.

"Uh, anyway," Honoka began, "Saki-chan, where's Ryuu-senpai and Naomi-san?"

"The usual," Saki shrugged with a chuckle, "and Takao-san just came again as well, this time with a wagon with a bunch of stuff hidden under a cover. I don't know what it is though…"

Both Honoka and Kenichi turn to each other with a nervous sweat drop.

"Don't tell me that kid brought MORE of those things," Kenichi groaned.

"Maybe," Honoka mumbled, "now that I thing about it, all of our training sessions had been getting harder because of it, right?"

"Yeah…just how THEY like…"

"Uh," Takada began, catching the two Shirahama attention, "what are you two talking about?"

"…Do you people REALLY want to know?" Kenichi mused unenthusiastically.

"No," Hermit rolled his eyes, "is what I would like to say, but I suppose this will give me a chance to see how the Masters of Ryozanpaku train someone like YOU to become a martial artist…"

"Always finding someway to not reveal your true interest, huh Hermit?" Takada laughed as he roughly patted the subject back, much to Hermits annoyance.

"It's also give him an excuse to watch his girl in action," Niijima sneered.

"You KNOW that's not it!" Hermit glared back.

"I want to see too," Renka stated, suddenly appearing alongside Kenichi and clinging to his arm.

"Hey," Miu and Honoka growled, pinching Renka's arms in an attempt to pry her off, "Get off of Kenichi/Brother…"

"…I'm not even going to mention how freaking lucky that bastard is," Takada growled under his breath, eying Miu.

"Uh~," Siegfried whistled as everyone began to follow Kenichi, Honoka, Miu, Saki, Shigure, and Kensei, "You kind of already did~…"

* * *

"APA," Apachai hummed in thought as he stared intently at the Othello board.

Sitting on the other side and waiting patiently for her opponents move was a blond girl around Honoka's age. While most of her golden hair flowed free, a few was braided in two pigtails, both tied at the end with red ribbons and had light blue eyes. Instead of a school uniform, she wore a knee long silver sleeveless silver dress with an equally silver vest and boots. A golden chain hanged around her neck which held a small gold version of a heart.

"APA!" Apachai suddenly cheered as he finally made a move, earning him fifteen pieces.

"Oh, good one Apachai," the young blond smiled, when once it was hidden by a mouth mask, "but…"

Apachai's smile quickly disappeared as he watch in horror as the blond made her final and devastating move, earning her forty-eight pieces.

"A-A-APA!" Apachai sweat dropped in horror as he watches the Othello board color change from his color black to the blonde's color white.

"Damn~!" Sasaki, who was watching the game, gasped in shocked, "the brat went from a losing game to winning hands down!"

The boy who sat next to Sasaki chuckled knowingly. He was only a year older than Honoka and the blond with combed down gray hair and wore oversized street clothes.

"Actually," the boy spoke, "if you asked me, Naoki was winning from the start…"

"Seriously?"

"How else would you explained why she let Apachai have so many advantage until now?"

"…Oh, you got a point!"

Just then, Honoka, Kenichi, Kensei, Miu, Saki, and Shigure arrived on the scene leading the members of the Shinpaku Alliance and Renka.

"Hey Naoki-chan, Ryuu-senpai!" Honoka sounded, catching her peers' attention.

"Honoka-chan!" the blond, who is apparently Naoki, cried in relief as she went over to inspect Honoka's body, "phew~, only a few scratches…and no missing fingers…"

"How," Shigure mumbled, "…rude…"

"Yo, Honoka-chan," the boy, who was obviously Ryuu, waved, "I see you manage to survive Miss Shigure's life-or-death challenge…"

"How…rude…"

"APA! Apachai loss so badly!"

"How…wait, what?"

"Everyone," Miu began, "the blond hair girl is Naoki Atsuko and the gray haired is Ryuu Michio. They're both from Honoka's school and also some of her closest friends, next to Saki…"

"Uh," Naoki managed as she stared at the multitudes of unfamiliar faces, "Honoka-chan, who are these strange looking people?"

"Them?" Honoka pointed back at the members of the Shinpaku Alliance and Renka, "Oh they're friends of my Brother…"

"I'm not HIS friend," the one in the dark hood growled in annoyance.

"Oh right…expect for him; he's MY friend…"

"I…don't recall claiming that either…"

"Really?" The Chinese girl look at the dark hooded boy skeptically, "It doesn't look like that to me…"

"Oh yeah? How?"

"…You're turning slightly red…"

"…Shut up!"

* * *

"Greetings little one," the one with pointy ears suddenly cackled, "I'm Niijima Haruo…"

"Oi, Niijima," Kenichi frowned, "Don't go trying to scare them already-!"

"Niijima Haruo!" Ryuu suddenly exclaimed, "Wait, you're THE Niijima Haruo, the Commander of the Shinpaku Alliance?"

Everyone stared at the gray haired boy.

"…You," Honoka began, "You know him?"

"Of course I do," Ryuu exclaimed as he dig through his pockets before pulling out what looks like a printout ID card with the symbol of the Alliance on it, "I'm the twenty-fourth member who signed up online…"

"…You had a computer?" Naoki tilted her head in confusion, since she knew that Ryuu's family didn't had the income to buy something even close to a VCR, let alone a computer.

"Oh no, I used the computer at school…"

"Huh~," Niijima hummed in amusement as he inspect the printout ID, scanning the barcode, "It's true, you are an online member. And now that I think about it, I did see your name on the online listing…"

"…Wait," the redhead with the green eyes and cap stated, "we have an online members, let alone an online listing?"

"Of course~," Niijima cackled evilly, "the most efficient way to spread my ambition is to recruit and gather as many people into the Alliance as possible…"

"Your ambition?" most of the group exclaimed in anger as they began to try to comically beat Niijima up.

"Yes~, try to beat me up~!"

"So you have an in with this elf?" Saki asked Ryuu, causing Niijima to comically trip.

"Pretty much," Ryuu nodded, "and now that I think about it, Takao should also be an online member too…"

"Him too?"

"Hold it, you little brat!" Niijima suddenly exclaimed in rage, causing those around him to flinch back in surprise, "WHO are YOU calling an ELF?"

"Who else have pointy ears," Saki countered.

"Shouldn't you be calling me something like devil or alien?" By chance, a UFO floated by high above them.

"…No~," Saki shook her head after staring at Niijima's face for a while, "your skin isn't even red to consider you as a devil…and your head isn't big enough to make you an alien. But your pale skin and pointy ears are enough to make you an elf…so you're an elf…"

"…OH JUST SHUT UP!"

"Niijima has nothing to use to counter back?" the tan teen with silver hair laughed in amusement, "now THAT'S priceless!"

"I'll say," the large teen with short spiky blond hair and sunglasses joined, "it beats any beat down we give him…"

"Fear not, my Demon Lord~!" the long-silver haired teen sang in comfort to Niijima as slumped in the corner in defeat, "In my eyes and heart~, you shall always be my great Demon Lord~!"

"Ah~!" Ryuu suddenly exclaimed, pointing at the long-silver haired teen, "You must be Siegfried the Immortal Composer!"

"Indeed I am~! You know me, young one~?"

"Of course! Niijima wrote about you on the website! You're his personal bodyguard who has no practical weakness with your 'Go no Sen' (striking last, hitting first) martial arts! After your training in Tibet, you virtually lost any weak points and had become a powerful captain of the Shinpaku Alliance…"

"…That was all on a website?" Naoki asked with a sweat drop.

"Yeah, the website has a description of all critical members of the Alliance…"

"…So," a voice suddenly popped up from behind the Shinpaku Alliance, "if I'm not mistaken, the lady with red hair and green eyes is Kisara Nanjo, A.K.A. Valkyrie, the one who use Taekwondo with Cat movements, right?"

Everyone jumped as they turn to see a boy with spiky silver hair and high-tech goggles wearing an orange, well-made jumpsuit snickering at their reaction.

"Who the hell?" Kisara screeched in surprise (since he was directly behind her), unintentionally bumping into the large spiky blond teen.

"Takao," Ryuu sweat dropped, "don't scare the very same people we join; that's going to leave a bad impression on us…"

"Oh, sorry about that," Takao scratched his head in shame, "I just thought it would be okay since the Commander of the Shinpaku seems to always be like that…"

"Oh, no worries," Niijima recovered, "so, who might you be?"

Takao held up his printout ID card. "I'm Takao Takeo, number twenty-eight to sign up online…"

"…He IS a member," Naoki blinked in amazement.

"Hmm~," Niijima hummed as he literally scans the barcode on the ID, "Yep, you're definitely a member…and if I recall, you belong to the Takeo Industry right?"

"Yep…but you won't find my name listed as an official member…"

"The Takeo Industry?" the extremely large man wearing a sumo suit exclaimed, "that's one of the leading car industry in the world!"

"I see you're very knowledgeable, Captain Yuma Chiaki A.K.A. Thor…"

"Eh! You know me…my combat sumo must be getting famous after all…"

"No," the dark-skinned female teen shook her head, "he must have known about you from the website…"

"Wait," Kisara suddenly realized, "now that I think about it, what DID the alien wrote about each of us on the web?"

Almost everyone from Alliance (including Niijima for some reason) sweat dropped nervously as they waited for Takao's answer.

"Hmm~," Takao cupped his chin as he was really thinking, "where should I start~? Perhaps the part where the Commander wrote about how Captain Kisara wasted 8000 Yen to get a stuff cat toy~…"

"What?" Kisara comically froze (cat style).

"…Or how Captain Kaname Kugatachi, or Freya, is fascinated by a particular Judo user~…"

"Huh!" the dark-skinned female managed in surprise, her face reddening as she nearly dropping her personal staff.

"…Or how about the fact that Commander Niijima shown claims that Captain Natsu Tanimoto, known as Hermit, is a pervert~…"

"WHAT?" the teen in the dark hood thundered.

"…Or maybe about the number of times the Commander used the word 'fatty' in Captain Thor's profile…"

"SAY WHAT?" Thor thundered in anger.

"…And let's not forget self proclaimed handsome boxer Captain Takada Ikki and the rather equally dense Judo user Vice Captain Ukita Kozo, as the Commander describe…"

"HUH?" the tan teen with silver hair and the large teen with short spiky blond hair and sunglasses exclaimed.

"…I got it, I'll start with, to be quoted by the Commander, the overly assertive, overly proud, totally obnoxious, and extremely dangerous Chinese girl Renka Ma…Oops~, did I say all of that out loud~?"

"…You did that on purpose, didn't you?" Ryuu sweat dropped as he watch most of the member of the Shinpaku Alliance gang beat Niijima, with Siegfried being held back by Kenichi on the sideline.

"You DAMN alien!" Kisara yelled in-between stomping Niijima, "You swore not to tell anyone!"

"Well," Niijima tried to reason in-between his beating, "I didn't actually TELL anyone…"

"How did you know-," Freya began as she constantly whack Niijima on the head only to backtrack herself in time, "I mean, what made you believe I have such attraction to someone?"

"Don't underestimate my ability to gather information…"

"How MANY times do I have to tell you NOT to spread random rumors?" Hermit shouted as he punched Niijima multiple times.

"Well, they weren't actually JUST rumors…"

"You DARE even use ONE mentioning of the word 'fatty' in MY profile?" Thor thundered as he stomped on Niijima.

"…Uh, it slipped?"

"Who are the dense ones?" Takada and Ukita yelled in unison as they too pummeled their alien leader.

"…Uh, okay I admitted I went a little too far with those…"

"You DARE write such vulgar fake description about me on your website?" Renka lectured as she stomped on "the place men don't want to be hit at".

"UGH!"

"My Demon Lord~!" Siegfried sang in worry as he struggled to break free from Kenichi's grip, "Commander Kenichi~, please let me go~! I must protect my Demon Lord~!"

"Siegfried, let it go this once," Kenichi advised with a sweat drop as he watch his bad-friend get beat up, "it was bound to happen sooner or later…"

* * *

Just then, Akisame appeared from around the corner, spotting his two disciple…and sweat dropping when he saw Niijima being gang beaten.

"I thought the dojo got noisier," Akisame muttered, catching everyone's attention.

"Ah, Master Akisame," Honoka yelped in surprise, only to narrow her eyes in caution, "Uh, suddenly I'm not so happy to see you…"

"Oh?" Akisame smirked, "and why is that?"

Honoka glared over to Takao. "Well…I'm worried about the new 'toy' you've receive from Takao-san…"

"Oh that?" Akisame laughed, "Oh don't worry; what Takao had given me is still too early to be used on the two of you…"

"R-Really?"

"…fortunately, there is still enough of Takao's previous 'gifts' for your training. So there is no need to worry…"

Both Kenichi and Honoka comically fell where they stood.

"Gifts?" Renka wondered out loud, a question mark appearing over her head, "What gifts?"

"Those," Akisame simply pointed over to an area littered with metal food cans.

"…Y-You meant those food cans?" Takada sweat dropped, having long since finish beating up Niijima, "Are you serious?"

"He's quite serious," Kenichi and Honoka mumbled at once.

"Well now," Akisame smiled, gently pushing the Shirahama sibling towards the food cans, "get on with your training now…"

"Yes master…"

"…Why are they sulking over the fact they're training with some food cans?" Ukita quoted everyone's mind.

"Maybe they don't think this a proper enough training exercise," Freya suggested.

"Or maybe their masters are training them to become heavy built like me so they can learn my combat sumo by eating what's in those food cans," Thor offered, causing everyone to look at him incredulity, "…Ok, stupid possibility. It was worth a shot, right?"

"You're seriously obsess with your dream," Kisara rolled her eyes.

"Hmm, I can actually imagine that," Naoki hummed out loud, causing everyone to look at her in disbelief, "Really, I do…"

"You're crazier that a fruit bat, Naoki-chan," Saki sweat dropped.

"I never really get her sense of acceptance," Ryuu sweat dropped as well.

"Well, you can all drop it now," Takao chuckled, clearly enjoying how almost everyone is confuses about the Shirahama siblings' "training", "because what's in those cans don't increase weight…they increase strength…"

"Huh?" Niijima quoted just as the Shirahama siblings ready themselves amongst the food cans.

* * *

All of a sudden, the cans' lid popped open as surprisingly large robotic-like figure emerged from them. They were all seemingly made from pipes, wires, gears, fabrics, and several I-Pods strapped surprisingly well together.

The members of the Shinpaku Alliance comically gasped as they watch the I-Pods on each robot flashed for several seconds before the fabrics on them began to morph a shift, the pipes extended/contract, and wires tighten/loosen.

In mere moments, each of the robots had taken a different form from each others. Some were fatter than others; some became more built than others, some had became as tall as the Elder, some had shrunk to become shorter than Honoka, some had taken the appearance of a demon; some had even appeared more feminine.

"W-W-WHAT THE HELL?" Niijima exclaimed.

"My LORD~!," Siegfried exclaimed in his usual way, "the cans had transform into strange looking opponents for both Commander Kenichi and Co-Commander Honoka~!"

"This is what those two been training against?" Kisara meowed in shock.

"Uh," Naoki sweat dropped, "sort of…"

"Actually," Ryuu noted, "they had only been doing this since yesterday, but Akisame like them so much that he'd decided to make the whole week focus on this kind of training…"

"Oh…" Hermit sweat dropped as he watch the Shirahama siblings fight for their lives against the robots, each using different form of martial arts, "I could see why…"

"…Why both are improving," Freya guessed, "or why both are hesitate about it earlier?"

"…Both…"

"Wow, hey," Thor suddenly exclaimed as he watch the fattest among the robots fight, "that's my combat sumo!"

"Huh!" Everyone exclaimed as they watched the battle even closer only to confirm Thor's exclamation, "Hey, you're right!"

"Surprise?" Takao chuckled, "well, you shouldn't be considering the fact that I am an online member with access to most of the captains' information…including detail description of their martial arts…"

"WHAT?"

"Wait hold on!" Niijima exclaimed, "Even didn't wrote too much about the captains' martial arts! How are you able to program anything into those bots of yours?"

"You may have wrote very little, Commander, but unlike others I read 'in-between the lines'…"

"…Really~?" Niijima suddenly hummed mischievously, "You know THIS much with what little I wrote?"

"…Maybe~…"

"Then, would you be interest in reading in-between the lines of something else?"

"Such as~?"

"Oh~, I don't know say…some inside info about YAMI~?"

"…That sounds…interesting~!"

"Very well then…you shall be my successor! If we team up, we'll be invincible~!"

"True, all true~!"

Everyone sweat dropped in fear as Takao and Niijima began to snicker sinisterly together, suddenly dress as the legendary tactician Zhuge Liang (complete with robes and fans).

"Something tells me," Hermit mumbled, "that my life is going to get even more annoying from this point on…"

* * *

It was dinner time when everyone decided to finally "settle down" (in Ryozanpaku's case, it means everyone was sitting down and not run off to do something crazy).

While Honoka and Kenichi were busy getting tortured…err, trained, the Shinpaku Alliance had become acquainted with Honoka's friends.

Takao and Niijima had been strategizing different method of attacks on future YAMI attacks for the bulk of the time, still dress like Zhuge Liang. Everyone, even the masters of Ryozanpaku, had decided to wisely leave the two alone for the first half.

Naoki had been having a nice conversation with Freya, Kisara, Miu, and Renka as they told the blonde about some of their past battles, all of which fascinated Naoki.

Likewise, Ryuu listen intensively to the boy's many great fleets.

Hermit and Saki, however, had chosen to keep their distance.

By the time Honoka and Kenichi rejoined everyone, the master of Ryozanpaku had joined the hysteria.

* * *

"So," Takao summed up, "if we were to do this, YAMI would have no choice but to make a move…"

"AH~, I see!" Niijima cupped his chin in amusement.

"Actually," Akisame noted as he pointed toward a few place in Takao's notes, "if YAMI were to take advantage of these weak points, then…"

"Oh," Kensei hummed after examining the weak points, "but if they were to do that, then we could simply do this to counter…"

"Oh," Akisame blinked as he consider where Kensei had pointed out, "then, if that's the case…"

* * *

"…And then," Renka continued her story as Miu, Kisara, Freya, and Naoki listened intensively, "before I even realized, two Master Class fighter suddenly appeared behind us. I could actually feel the KI from them making my spine shiver…"

"Then WHAT?" Miu, Freya, and Kisara repeated continuously.

"What did you do?" Naoki asked nervously.

"Well~," Renka huffed, "we knew that we were no match for the two, but we couldn't get away either. So we decided to face the two head on…"

"THAT'S CRAZY!" Miu, Freya, Kisara, and Naoki exclaimed.

"Very," Shigure mumbled in surprise, "…courageous…"

"APA!" Apachai voiced, "Kensei was the worse…"

"Hey~!" Kensei grumbled from his group, having heard Apachai's remark.

* * *

"No way," Takada remarked in surprise and horror, "you mean to say that you actually had to work in the sewer?"

"Yeah," Ryuu sighed, "it's a dirty job but someone's got to do it…"

"So let me get this straight," Sasaki mumbled, "You have experience in factories, community work, government facility, AND farming?"

"Let's not forget he had worked as a short-time butler once…" Ukita reminded.

"Damn," Thor heartily, but gently, patted Ryuu back in admiration, "you are INDEED a man among man, Ryuu-kun…"

"I could say the same for you Thor-dono. You really are dedicated to the future of unfit people in the world!"

"Yeah~, well…"

"Though personally," Ukita whispered to Ryuu, "I think he made a mistake when joining the alien's organization…"

"Ah~!" Siegfried suddenly exclaimed as he pulled out a feather pen and some blank scores, "That's it~! Another inspiration~!"

* * *

"Hey, hey," Kenichi sweat dropped as he and Honoka watch the spectacle before them, "how did this happen?"

"I wonder myself," Hermit mumbled in frustration from where he leaned on the wall beside Saki.

"Everyone seems to be enjoying themselves though," Saki remarked, with Shigure's pet mouse, Tochumaru, nodding in agreement on her head.

"Then," Honoka began with a comical face, "why aren't you two with them?"

"I don't want to!" Hermit simply grumbled.

"I'm not interested!" Saki simply stated.

"Damn," Kenichi sweat dropped, "you two are a lot alike…"

"We are NOT!" Hermit and Saki denied before turning to each in surprise, before turning back to the Shirahama sibling, "This is just a coincidence!"

"Uh…Ok?"

* * *

"Well, well," Akisame noted, finally noticing the two disciple, "It would appears that you two had finished early today…"

"This is early?" Kisara whispered to Miu, who nervously nodded.

"Excellent~!" Niijima hissed mischievously as he slithered over to the two sibling, slightly freaking them out, "then we should now have time to discuss another matter…"

"A-Another matter?" Honoka noted in confusion.

"Hey," Saki suddenly intervened, getting between Niijima and her best friend, "back off elf…"

"…Enough with the 'elf' remark," Niijima growled, before looking pass the redhead, "Anyway, Honoka, I would like to make a proposal…"

"…I'm not getting marry this early in life you know," Honoka joked, causing almost everyone in the room to suppress a giggle.

"…No, that's not it," Niijima grumbled, "anyway, I was wondering if you'll be interested in joining the Shinpaku Alliance…"

"…Huh?"

"WHAT?" Honoka's friend exclaimed in surprise.

"You heard me," Niijima crackled, "I am personally asking you to join the Alliance, the same Alliance your brother is in…"

"No way," Saki intervened, "why should Honoka join such a suspicious looking group?"

"It's not really suspicious you know," Takao corrected, "he practically typed down what the organization is about…"

"Takao, you stay out of this!"

"Incredible!" Ryuu suddenly exclaimed, "to be personally invited by the Commander of the Shinpaku Alliance…"

"You're not helping, Ryuu-kun!"

"So," Honoka addressed Niijima, "what brought this on again?"

"It's simple really," Niijima stated, "as I have already told Kenichi and, quite recently, your masters, YAMI the organization that oppose Ryozanpaku has begun to make suspicious moves…"

"From what Niijima gathered," Akisame suddenly intervene, "it would seem that Ryozanpaku, especially the disciples, will be targeted soon…"

"Huh!" Honoka and her friends exclaimed, "Why?"

"Does this has to do with you wrote online, sir," Ryuu asked Niijima, "About you all interfering with a organization that tries to start another World War?"

"The same," Niijima nodded, "As I have typed on website, the number of leaders of this organization has been reduced down to only a few now. Now there are plenty of vacant seats up for the taking, but the ones looking for it knows they have to do something impressive to get those seats. Ryozanpaku were responsible for those vacant seats so by defeating them it will be the most benefit to their goal…"

"Huh?" Naoki cocked her head in confusion.

"Basically," Takao decided to explain, "whoever kills the Honoka's masters first becomes the winner…"

"Oh…"

"And that's not all," Niijima continued, "in the world of material arts, the best way to defeat a master is to eliminate the disciple…"

"So what you're saying is," Saki hummed, "To prove not only that have the qualification to become one of the leaders but also to prove they have the better material arts, they'll send their own disciple to take care of either Honoka or her big brother. And in turn they can kill two birds with stone…"

Everyone stared at Saki.

"W-What?"

"That's…right?" Niijima noted in surprise, "I was just about to say that! How do you know that?"

"…What do you mean?"

"Well," Kensei coughed, "you did say that you have no interest in material arts…"

"And yet," Renka finalized, "you talk as if you knew how the material art world works…"

"…So?" Saki calmly replied.

"Well," Ryuu guessed, "only those who are very familiar with material arts would know, so how would-?"

"I got lucky! That's all…"

"O…K?" Sasaki mumbled.

"Anyway," Niijima continued, "since you and Kenichi are being targeted, I thought it would be safer for both of you have reinforcement to come to your aid if something happens. Your brother Kenichi is already a member of the Shinpaku Alliance so he's cover, so I thought it would be safer to include you into the Alliance as well…"

"…Me?" Honoka pointed to herself, "be in the same league as my brother?"

"Yes, like I said, it's safer for you! After all, we had help Kenichi in problems like this before…"

"In other words, I get to join this circle of friends of brother Kenichi?"

"That's right-!"

"Hold it," Saki intervene again as she grip Niijima's antennae, preventing them from entering Honoka's brain and causing Niijima to hiss in pain (somehow), "Aren't you targeted too?"

"Huh?"

"You did say you and this 'alliance' had already tangle with this YAMI already right?"

"So?"

"That would mean you're in no better shape than Ryozanpaku; how can you say you can protect her when you are being targeted yourself?"

"You're pretty stupid, aren't you?" Takao muttered, "At least if she join the Shinpaku Alliance, there's safety in numbers…"

"WHAT~?" Saki growled as she aimed to sock Takao in the face but was held back by Naoki and Ryuu.

"It's exactly as Takao said," Niijima nodded, "So Honoka-chan, will you join~?"

* * *

Honoka hummed a bit in thought, before turning to her masters.

"Hey," Sasaki held up a hand, "don't look at us!"

"There is an old saying once," Akisame spoke as he sipped some tea, "and that is neither to kill nor rescue the disciple…"

Honoka hummed even more before turning to Kenichi then quickly back to Niijima.

"Well~," Honoka smirked, "I did come here to monitor brother's actions, so if he's spending time with this Alliance I guess I have no choice but to join…"

"Excellent~!" Niijima hissed triumphantly.

"Wait," Saki jumped, "you're seriously going to join this…group?"

"Why not?" Honoka asked before pointing to Ryuu and Takao, "They're in it too!"

"What does THAT has to do with THIS?"

"I can go in there to protect them too…"

"Well…yeah, but…"

"Give it up kid," Niijima snickered, "you can't win~…"

"But if you're unease, Saki-chan," Honoka continued, "why don't you join too?"

"…Wait, what?"

"Huh?" Saki exclaimed, "Why?"

"So we can watch each other's back, like how we always do…"

Saki blink before humming in thought, thinking about it.

"Well," Saki began, "Alright~! I guess that will work…"

"Whoa, hold the phone," Niijima stopped, "I never…"

"If she's not joining," Honoka remarked slyly, "then I won't either! Take it or leave it…"

"Say WHAT?" Niijima exclaimed, but nevertheless sat back down and went into deep thought before finally straightening, "…Fine~! I'll let her join too-!"

"Then," Naoki suddenly voiced, "can I join too?"

"Huh?" Everyone sounded in surprise.

"Hey now," Akisame hummed in confusion, "What is this all of a sudden?"

"I want to help Honoka-chan the best I can!" Naoki explained, "Friends stick together to through thick and thin!"

Niijima stared at Naoki for a moment before sighing.

"Fine~!" Niijima huffed, "You're in too, but don't slow us down…"

"I won't," Naoki assured, "I promise!"

* * *

"Well," Akisame smirked in Niijima's direction, "I believe this is an unexpected bonus for you, Niijima, considering you just gain some very enthusiastic new members…"

"Well~," Niijima smirked as he stroke his chin mischievously, "I suppose I can look at it that way~…"

"Don't get ahead of yourself, Mr. Elf," Saki reminded, "You hadn't actually capitalize us yet…"

"Quit calling me 'elf'! As your leader, I-!"

"What was that?" Saki suddenly stated, cupping her hand around her right ear, "I think that's the sound that no one CARES!"

"Excuse me?"

"Show of hands, everyone," Saki suddenly voiced, raising her hand, "who among you all don't mind that I call my 'leader' as an elf?"

After staring at each other for a moment, everyone aside from the stun Niijima raised their hands.

"An unanimous agreement," Saki smirked, "in order to avoid mutiny, the leader Niijima will be forcibly agree to accept the term to label an elf…"

Blink. Blink. Suddenly the room erupted in a roar of laughter (chuckling for the more serious members).

"Good one, kid," Ukita laughed, "the damn alien-I mean, ELF, can't displease ALL of his subordinates…"

"He can't do a thing about it now!" Kisara snickered.

"Hey everyone," Thor called as he pointed at Niijima, who was stone frozen in shock, "I think we broke him…"

"I'm honestly going to savor this moment," Kenichi chuckled, "I've been dying to see this expression from him…"

"Well," Hermit commented, "who hasn't?"

"Guess that's one thing in common between the two of you," Honoka snickered as she glanced between Hermit and Kenichi.

"Uh…"

The room once again erupted in a shower of laughter.

* * *

Hermit later found himself walking down a dark hall towards a particular room at the end of the corridor. When he entered, four people were waiting for him…well, it's more like they were doing their own little thing before noticing that he had enter.

"Yo, I see you've finally returned," one of them greeted. He was a very well built tanned man around Hermit's age, with scars scatter hither and thither all over his body, black messy hair, and an eye patch over one of his eyes. Despite his cheerful personality, Hermit knew that he isn't the disciple of the One Shadow for nothing. "Took you long enough…"

"Hmm~," another hummed in amusement. This time it was an American female with wavy blond hair, a stylish wrestling mask covering most of her face, and wore very…uh, "flexible" clothing. "Could it be that the other lower divisionary group took a jab at you all already?"

"No," Hermit replied, keeping his emotionless expression on, "Nothing today…"

"Strange," the second female mumbled. She was the smallest and youngest of the group, with a pair of cold eyes, a single ponytail droop down the side of her front, and wore a jujitsu shirt and red nagabakama. She was currently playing (and losing) with the disciple of the One Shadow. "I thought those Shinpaku Alliance would have been killed over sixteen times by now…"

"True," the scarred man laughed, "but if it were that easy, we wouldn't need to have Hermit here go tell them about the danger. Right, Ryuto-kun?"

The man glance over to the last man, who is silently sitting in his wheelchair. He had shoulder-length gray hair, the sclera of his right eye black, wore glasses, and dress in a depressing white clothing.

"…Tell me again, Kajima," Ryuto mumbled, "why bother telling them about the upcoming turmoil?"

"Simple," the scarred man smirked, "we don't want the lower division giving them the jump unexpectedly and wiping them out too easily. After all, only those how can face Ryozanpaku and the Shinpaku Alliance when they are prepared can truly be worthy to join our level…"

"In other words," the American girl chimed, "this part of the test we of YOMI and the One Shadow Nine Fist will use to find worthy candidates for those empty seats in YAMI higher ups…"

"…Pointless," Ryuto mumbled, to which everyone else rolled their eyes.

"There's also another reason why I'm late," Hermit began again, catching everyone's attention, "It would seem the Master of Ryozanpaku has found yet another disciple under their wing…"

"What's this?" Kajima noted in surprise before checkmating his opponent, who was both surprise at Hermit's information and by the defeat, "You're pulling my leg! Really, seriously?"

"I just found out today," Hermit admitted as noted the shock look on both Ryuto and the American girl's face, "I had…somewhat…the same reaction…"

"No way," the American girl cried, "those Ryozanpaku master found someone else to compete with us?"

"…That's a shock," the child commented after recovering from her defeat and the information, "So, who is it?"

"It's Kenichi's thirteen-year-old sister, Honoka Shirahama," Hermit informed.

"Kenichi's-," Ryuto mumbled before staring up at Hermit, "wasn't she the same one who Loki use against you that time?"

"…The same…"

"Oh, so you know the kid," Kajima smirked, "so tell me Hermit, what is she like? In one word if you can…"

"…" Hermit considered his option for a moment as everyone waited for an answer, "…A nuisance…"

"Excuse me?"

"…She's like her brother…only worse in personality…and more stubborn too…"

"So," Kajima laughed, "First we have to deal with an Idiot, now we have deal with a Nuisance which is the sister of the Idiot, huh? Ha! This just keeps getting better…"

"And she's around Chikage's age too," the American girl noted slyly, glancing over at the child, "Could this be a start of a very tense rivalry?"

"Why would I consider this…Honoka…as a rival, Rachel?" Chikage mumbled staring back the American girl, "She's obviously inferior to me…"

"We thought the same the Shirahama boy! Remember~?"

"…I don't comprehend…"

"Still," Ryuto mumbled, "that brat sure has terrible luck…picking now of all times to become Ryozanpaku's second disciple…"

"I know," Rachel sighed, "she going to be ripped apart in seconds with those Yami lower class after those Katsujinken (Saving Fist) dojo…"

"Well, who knows?" Kajima laughed, "but there's one thing we can be sure of…"

"What's that?" Chikage mumbled.

"From this point on, things are going to get VERY interesting…"

"Well~," Rachel shrugged with a smile, "Can't argue that!"

"So, Hermit…"

"What?" Hermit responded flatly.

"Keep an eye on the new disciple…"

"What? Why?"

"Just because…"

"…Fine," Hermit grumbled before turning aiming to exit the room, "by the way, how much of this are you going to inform to the rest of YAMI?"

"All of it," Kajima smirked, to which Hermit then just simple walked out without another comment, "Honoka Shirahama, huh? What kind of show will you put on for us?"

* * *

OC Profile #3: Ryuu Michio

Ryuu is a friend to Honoka who is one year older than her. He could be describe as a relatively timid person in front of strangers but extremely devoted to his friends. Ryuu come from a relatively economic challenged family, who barely has enough money to afford a house, his education, and everyday necessity (which would explains the hand-me-down clothes he is usually seen wearing). Because he would find himself helping his parents out on some of the temporary work they do, Ryuu not only know a considerate number of many people but is also very skill in many occupation (similar to Hayate from Hayate the Combat Butler, though probably not to the same extent). The family poverty got so bad, in fact, that he was force to become a bully for a period of time until he met Honoka and Naoki. He seems to have some knowledge in Martial Arts, which probably he knows a little himself. Another interesting fact about him is the fact that he is an online member of the Shinpaku Alliance and seems to look up to all the members of the Alliance (even Niijima, much to most other's surprise horror). He is the twenty-fourth online.

More on Ryuu later on…

* * *

Next Chapter: With YAMI finally aware of the Second Disciple, the peril finally begins! After multiple losses to her brother in several sparring matches, Honoka began to doubt herself. It couldn't happen at a worse time when Li Raichi (under of her father/master Li Tenmon), Andaka (under order of the Barbaric Swordsman), Tsuji Shinnosuke (who gain an interest in the new Disciple) and the return of Koga the Kicker decided to pay her a visit. Will Honoka be able to survive her first real life fight(s)?

Review and pray for Honoka's safety!


End file.
